


Hero's Soup

by miracle_june



Series: Hero's Soup [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Vampire, Angst, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Foxes, M/M, Vampires, Werewolves, Witchcraft, Witches
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2019-10-21 12:51:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 48,207
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17643170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miracle_june/pseuds/miracle_june
Summary: Hi, I'm Yang Jeongin. And, well.. this is my story.





	1. Antique Shop

Antique Shop

The sunlight seeped through Chan’s curtain. He groaned, growing impatient of how long his day would be again, even though it hasn’t started yet. Lifting himself up from bed he headed towards the shower, not bothering looking at his faint reflection on the bathroom mirror. After cleaning up, he threw on a black shirt and wore a black hoodie over it. Chan slipped on some denim jeans and headed towards his bedroom door.

After tying the knot of his sneakers, he proceeded downstairs. With a snap of his fingers, the lights and all the candles lit up. But he manually turned the AC on. Chan made his way towards the counter, opening the small fridge underneath it. 

“I think I need two.” he said to himself. Fetching 2 flasks of fresh blood. The smell of old stuff and books somehow masked the scent of blood. After finishing his drink, he easily crushed the containers with his hands and threw them to the bin, making sure there was no trace of blood in them.

Chan went around the counter towards the door and flipped the sign “We’re Open!” he sighed, reminding himself to change it into something more encouraging. He was still surprised by the fact that he has a lot of customers, it never occurred to him that people these days still consider buying old and vintage stuff for a hefty price. 

As soon as he place his hands on the counter, the bell rang. Indicating a customer, the faint smell of blood told Chan that it was a human being. He hummed, before pushing himself towards the door. Momentarily, he stopped on his tracks. There was no one there. He made his way around the sections of antique clocks and saw a tall figure with his back faced towards him. “What can I do for you?” the customer yelped and spun around facing Chan.

Chan gave a small bow, “I’m sorry for startling you.” his voice was low and casual. The boy looked at him with widened eyes before bowing in return. Chan reminded him of a fox, to him the boy looked more like a fox than Felix. “It’s okay!” Jeongin smiled. Chan was a bit taken aback by his braces but he didn’t really pondered on it that much. 

“So, what are you trying to find?” again, he asked, eager to finish the transaction and be left alone. Jeongin’s curious eyes scattered around the place. He hummed. “I’m not really trying to find anything.” Chan raised his eyebrows at him. “Oh.” he was about to turn his back when the boy spoke, “How long have you been here, sir?” the sudden curiosity annoyed Chan. But he had to make a good impression towards his customers.

“I’ve been here quite a while now.” Jeongin nodded and proceeded to look around. “Huh, that’s weird. I have never seen this place before, and that’s funny because I was born and grew up around this area.” the boy chuckled. Chan grew stiff, ah, the only flaw in the matrix. “Well, it’s not really an eye catching place so you might have never noticed it.” he tried to sound as casual as he can. Jeongin shrugged and gave him a smile. 

“Maybe you’re right!” the boy exclaimed. Chan couldn’t help but smile too, Jeongin had this soft aura radiating from him that makes your feel warm and cozy even though his body is already cold and dead. “Why don’t you look around? Maybe you’ll find something you’d like.” Jeongin eagerly nodded. Chan made his way back to the counter. He turned up his hearing, and noticed the boy mumbling random stuff to himself. ‘Oh, this looks cool, wow. I have never seen something like this---oh! That looks sick.’ he found himself smiling as he continued to listen to the boy’s whispers.

_

It’s been weeks since Jeongin first visited Chan’s place. The boy completely forgot about the fact that the store suddenly popped out of nowhere. Chan was a bit bothered by his daily presence but eventually got used to it. He even scoffed when he found himself waiting for the arrival of the school boy.

“Channie Hyung! I brought fresh donuts!!!” the familiar voice resonated around the room. Chan was busy tending to a customer, he excused himself and shouted back at Jeongin. “Hang on, Jeongin. I have a customer.” he knew Jeongin would just walk towards the counter and sit there waiting for him. But the bell rang again, Chan almost groaned, he hasn’t rested until this morning except for lunch break. Customers have been in and out for the past 6 hours. “Hyung, I’ll get it don’t worry!” the kind gesture of the kid made him smile. He was always thankful for Jeongin, although he doesn’t express it quite often.

Jeongin has been helping Chan for almost a month now. He was convinced that Chan wasn’t really a people person that’s why he didn’t hire other employees. Jeongin wanted to change that, so he started coming in the shop after his classes. He can clearly tell the old man was annoyed but he pushed further, until 1 week after his frequent visits, Chan offered him some tea. Feeling accomplished, he started coming into the shop even on weekends. 

Jeongin was practically an unofficial employee at Chan’s antique shop. 

He made his way towards the customer, following them from behind. Answering their questions about the products. For almost a month of working there, he already knows all about the stuff and where they are located. Not unlike the first time he made a beeline around the shop and ended up confusing both himself and the customer. 

“Oh that, Sir, is a locket from 1882. It belonged to a farmer who was deeply in love with this rich woman, he sold half of his land just to buy that and gave it to the lady” the customer was in awe and mentioned something about his wife liking vintage jewelry. Jeongin beamed at him. “Well isn’t that great! She would love this!” and just like that he got his 50th transaction completed. 

Jeongin handed the customer the paper bag with a small box in it containing the necklace. With a bow and a smile, he thanked the customer. He didn’t even notice Chan creeping up beside him. “Nice work.” the boy flinched. He could never get used to Chan just popping out of nowhere inside the shop. It’s like he teleports. “Thanks, Hyung!” 

The customer Chan was tending to, wanted to be left alone so he went back to the counter and talked to Jeongin. When he heard the customer call, he pushed Jeongin back into his chair. “I’ll get it.” earning a soft smile from the boy. Chan made his way to the customer to answer his question about the vase he got in China.

Jeongin watched Chan’s figure vanish into the clutter of stuff. He smiled. The guy was clearly lonely here. And he felt good about himself, making Chan befriend him, although the man hasn’t officially said it. Jeongin’s eyes rested on the flask that was sprawled onto the counter. He stood up to see if it was open. Glad that it was sealed shut, he arranged the container just to make sure it doesn’t spill. But curiosity drowned him. 

This was the first time he ever saw that container on the counter, or even around the shop. He really didn’t take Chan as someone who drinks. He started turning the lid. Chan on the other hand hasn’t noticed what Jeongin was doing because he was busy explaining to the customer. Jeongin expected to be welcomed by the strong smell of alcohol, with a final twist he removed the cap of the flask and took a whiff. His eyes went wide and the flask slipped from his hands, falling onto the floor with a loud clang. Painting the marble floor in a deep shade of red.

Chan’s head snapped towards Jeongin’s direction right after the boy opened the lid. Chan prayed to his ancestors, wanting the boy to not try to smell the contents of the flask. “Um, excuse me?” the customer piped, waving his hand in front of Chan’s face. Chan faced the guy and apologized, he tried his best to answer the question with sweaty hands.

But a loud sound made him panic. With the blink of an eye, Chan vanished into thin air. Startling the customer.

“What do you think you’re doing?” his voice was low and deadly. Jeongin fell onto his butt with the sudden figure of Chan standing in front of him. He swore to himself that the old man just magically appeared. With a surprised face, his gaze went back and forth from Chan and the mess he just made.

The customer screamed and started running towards the door. Chan snapped his hands, the door locked by itself and the blinds were also pulled down. He did that while staring right into the boy’s eyes. He slowly made his was towards the customer, leaving Jeongin in a trance. “Forget.” his eyes turned red for a second and the customer face was stoned. Again, with a snap, the door flew open. “Go.” the customer slowly walked out the room. With the loud thud of the door, he was back to his senses. Clearly forgetting a whole chunk of his day as he walked home.

Chan sighed and popped back in front of the fox.

Chan noticed the boys erratic heartbeat, but that didn’t stop him from moving closer towards him. His mind was clouded by anger. Jeongin should’ve never visited him here. He shouldn't have entertained the boy. He should’ve just pushed him away. He even warned the boy multiple times to not touch his stuff. Chan felt betrayed and at the same time he was mad at himself for letting the boy soften him up.

Jeongin’s breathing was hitched and he could feel every muscle in his body stiffen. He couldn’t move because he was terrified. “Wa--you---” with a small voice he tried to make out the words “What are you?” Chan’s face appeared right in from of him. Jeongin noticed the absence of his usual soft stare. Chan slowly opened his mouth. The boy saw how 2 large fangs grew from Chan’s canine teeth. And at that moment he knew…

He’s gonna be killed by a vampire.

_

“CHAN!!” a loud voice appeared out of nowhere. Jeongin still couldn’t move, he heard the voice but his attention was focused on the monster right in front of him. There was a flash, out of reflex he covered his face with his arms and braced for impact. When the bright light vanished, he slowly peeled his eyes open. Chan has vanished in front of him. His wide eyes looked around, searching for the vampire.

“Jeez, you can never control your goddamn temper---Yang Jeongin from Class C, right?” a tall boy appeared right in front of him, his hand outstretched. Jeongin’s gaze slowly lifted up to the unknown person’s face. His mouth went agape. 

“Aren’t you gonna take my hand?” Seungmin’s voice had a hint of annoyance. Not waiting for the boy to respond, he withdrew back his hand and started gesturing his hand. Jeongin was suddenly lifted up in the air and with a soft thud, his feet were back on the floor. He never have thought that his school’s student council president would be saving his ass. Maybe because he doesn’t know what the fuck is happening.

Chan found himself laying on his bed with a gag on his mouth. With muffled screams he easily broke free from the iron shackles on both feet. His eyes were blood red as he looked at the door. “That fucking witch teleported me.” within a millisecond he appeared right in front of the scene. His frantic eyes found Yang Jeongin facing the witch with a bewildered look. Chan stomped his way towards them.

Jeongin recoiled at the sight of Chan, his eyes were red, fangs were shown and he also noticed his claws. The sight terrified him. Never in his life did he imagine encountering something like this. Sure, he believed in some fairy tales because they wouldn’t exist if they weren’t true. But, he never begged to see them in real life. Oh god, he wished he never even encountered any of those vile monsters. But here he is, standing in front of Seungmin, which seems to be somewhat magical and Chan who is a blood sucking monster. 

Seungmin saw how the boy’s face grew pale. He sighed and turned to Chan. Their faces only centimeters apart. His expression didn’t change. “Who the fuck do you think you are to sto---” Seungmin held up his finger and lifted Chan of his feet. The vampire’s eyebrows furrowed as he struggled in the air. “Put me down you witch!!!” 

Seungmin looked the devil right in the eyes before sighing. He chuckled a little making Jeongin more uneasy with the situation. Seungmin clearly knows Chan is beyond mad and now he still has the audacity to chuckle, Jeongin prepared for the worst. “It still doesn’t make sense how useless a powerful vampire like you becomes feeble when being levitated in the air by magic.” Seungmin laughed a bit loudly, making Jeongin shake in fear. He tried stealing a glance from Chan but was stopped by the witch.

“Don’t, he can kill you with his stare” hearing the seriousness behind Seungmin’s voice, the boy nodded and looked away. Seungmin turned to Chan. The vampire’s expression was terrifying, even Seungmin earned goosebumps just by taking a small glance. He knew Chan could easily control him so he avoided the vampire’s gaze. “You have to calm down Chan.” the vampire continued to growl in a low tone. Jeongin was still shaking but he felt bad about what happened. It was all his fault, if he had not opened that flask, both him and Chan would have been enjoying the fresh donuts he got from the bakery. Jeongin looked down on his bag, thinking to himself that they’re probably cold and hard now.

Seungmin waited for the vampire to calm down. Chan on the other hand had no plan on doing what the stupid witch said. Seungmin sighed in defeat, “Okay, but don’t hurt him. Just erase his memories and let him go.” Chan’s eyes faltered. Seungmin had a point. He continued to soften up a bit until Seungmin finally let his feet touch the ground.

The witch turns to Jeongin who was still standing and catching his breath. He gave him a casual smile while putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “This will not hurt.” Jeongin accepted his fate. He knew what was gonna happen, he felt sad and defeated. Chan was the only person who was nice to him. He knew the man was clearly annoyed at first by his frequent visits, but Chan never said anything that would offend the boy. He didn’t push him away. It was a shame that their friendship would end like this.

All of a sudden the door shot open, alarming all three of them. Chan knew he locked the door but who would be powerful enough to bring down an antique door sealed shut by magic. His query was answered when Woojin came dashing through the store with a strong smell of blood that was visible when he arrived in front of the counter. His eyes were full of worry and anger as he looked into the eyes of the bloodhound. Chan’s displeasure towards the boy had vanished. “Woojin…” those were the only words that were exchanged between the two. Woojin held back his tears and approached Chan, ignoring the two unknown presence watching the scene unfold. Chan’s eyes travelled from the man’s face to his bloody shirt. “It’s Jisung…” Chan’s head snapped back to Woojin’s face. His face was stern and serious. He didn’t need an explanation. Both of them sprinted towards the door, leaving a baffled witch and Jeongin. 

Seungmin let out an exasperated sigh and gripped the boy’s wrist before dragging him outside the shop, shouting “REALLY CHAN? WEREWOLVES??!!” as he did so.


	2. Meet the Pack

Meet the pack

Jeongin was barely keeping up with Seungmin, he almost tripped twice. The witch was mumbling incoherent words, but the boy was sure that the witch was probably cursing at Chan. Seungmin suddenly stopped on his tracks bringing Jeongin to bump against his broad back.

Jeongin held his injured nose, “Why?” Seungmin didn’t answer him. “Huh, I lost them--wait… Never mind.” said the witch with an empty and condescending tone. He continued to drag the boy. After walking and sprinting for God knows how long, they arrive at a secluded area. Jeongin remembered the words his mom said about this place. Being the good kid he is, he stopped. Pulling Seungmin back. The witch looked at him through his lashes.

“Scared? Then, go home. I don’t even know why I brought you with me.” removing his hold on the boy’s wrist, the witch turned around and started walking. Jeongin was dumbfounded. He wanted to follow the upper class man but at the same time he was scared to do so. He looked behind him, no one was there. He looked in front of him, Seungmin just turned the around the narrow corner. As of instinct, he sprinted towards the witch’s last location. Grasping the shirt of the older. Seungmin gazes back at the boy.

His stern face softened at the sight. Jeongin was clearly shaken by the previous and upcoming scenarios. He was just a kid, a normal human kid up until earlier where he witnessed so much at the same time. Seungmin let out another sigh and held the boy’s hand, making him look up to him. “Come on.” and with that they journeyed towards the wolf and the vampire’s location.

They were walking in silence, Jeongin was tired of course. After what happened, he was mentally and physically exhausted. But he wanted to come with Seungmin. He wanted to apologize to Chan.

“I want to apologize to Chan, hyung.” Seungmin stopped and turns to Jeongin. He was clearly surprised by the boy’s request. “I’m sorry, what?” as if hearing it wrong, Seungmin made sure. But he was welcomed by a determined face. The witch almost broke out into a smile because of the boy’s behavior. However, it was no laughing manner. Seungmin knew who Chan was and what he was capable of. He has seen the man lose his sanity once and boy, did he want to kill himself after witnessing it.

Grabbing Jeongin’s other hand he warned, “Yang Jeongin, you can still forget about everything that happened today.” it was a vague answer, but the younger knew what Seungmin meant. He didn’t want him to get involved with these kinds of stuff. And to be honest, neither did Jeongin. What happened earlier was the scariest thing ever. But, he also convinced himself that half of it was his fault.

Jeongin stared right through the witch’s brown orbs. “I don’t want to. I want to say sorry to Chan hyung and to you too. I want to help him.” Seungmin was in awe. He has never met anyone as determined as Jeongin. The boy eyed Seungmin until he broke into a small smile. Jeongin returned it with the biggest one he could come up with, displaying his braces in full view of the latter.

Seungmin knew he lost. So they started walking again, with the rest of the awkward air vanishing as they go further into the abandoned roads.

The buildings grew thinner and eventually they were surrounded by thick trees and tall grasses. Seungmin spotted Woojin and Chan whispering at the distance, he sauntered towards the two, leaving Jeongin behind as the boy drink’s up the last remaining drops of his water.

Woojin easily spotted the two and waved at them. Chan who found about their presence 5 minutes ago did not bother to greet them. He was focused on what was happening. “Jisung is in there alone? Is he wounded?” Woojin shakes his head. “But, I can detect a faint smell of his scent. It’s mixed with a bit of blood.” Chan took a sharp intake of breath, balling his fists as he eyed the warehouse.

“Chan, what the hell is happening?” the vampire did not respond and was lost in thought. Woojin turned to Seungmin and gave him a small smile as he held out his clean hand. “I’m sorry, I didn’t get to introduce myself. I’m Kim Woojin.” the wolf felt at ease around the witch, even though he had bad experiences with some of them in the past. Seungmin was a good witch, he can tell and he can also tell he has a bit of an attitude, the thought made him laugh inside his head. Seungmin accepted the pleasantries to not be perceived as someone rude.

Woojin tilted his head and looked beyond Seungmin. Jeongin popped up from Seungmin’s side, he gave Woojin a small bow. The older smiled at the boy, “You must be Jeongin, right? Chan told me about--” Chan suddenly grab a hold of them and pushed them onto the ground.

“Someone’s patrolling, keep quiet.” Woojin put his huge hand behind Jeongin’s back making the boy look at him. He gave him a smile and mouthed the words, “It’s okay. I’m here.” Jeongin couldn’t help but smile.

They sat on the itchy grass for about 5 minutes, and relaxed when Chan signaled them that the guard was gone. A figure lurked behind Jeongin, alarming Seungmin. He was about to cast a spell when Woojin stopped him. “It’s a friend.” the figure slowly moved towards Woojin side, his handsome face was full of worry too. He scanned through the unfamiliar faces and gaze lingering at Jeongin. Aware of the boy’s identity, he smiled unconsciously. “This is Hwang Hyunjin, he’s the beta.” Hyunjin was not that fond of humans, he perceived them as low beings who take nature for granted. But this particular human being was, somewhat special. And the way Chan talks about him, he was indeed special.

“Yang Jeongin?” the mention of his name made Jeongin blush. He didn’t expect all of them to know his name. It made him look at Chan with the side of his eye. Did Chan really talked about him? A flame of scarlet crept in a swift diagonal across his cheeks. Woojin and Chan started to plan out their attack, with Seungmin heavily warning them about the consequences which led to him and Chan fighting because Seungmin brought the kid with him.

The last member of the small pack soon arrived, Seo Changbin. He was confused of the sight of Chan and an unfamiliar face bickering about another unfamiliar face beside him, which he later found out was Chan’s “bodyguard” and also a witch from the 19th century (Seungmin). Jeongin felt more safe and calm as the three wolves reassured about his safety. Hyunjin was the most caring and well, he was something else.

Hyunjin liked the boy. He smelled so much like baby powder and cherries. He also had this warm and soft air around him that makes you want to protect the young man. Changbin was okay with him. And Woojin also liked Jeongin, he liked him the first time his name slipped out of the vampire’s mouth.

Yes, Chan mentioned the boy a few times. He was caught off guard most of the time, earning coos and chants from his wolf friends. Woojin frowned perplexedly, Jisung was the one who wanted to meet the boy the most. “Enough.” all of the attention was drawn to him. Jeongin was sure he peed a little bit. Woojin’s face was no longer soft and calm, his voice was an octave deeper and that one word made everyone shiver in panic.

“We have to save Jisung, now.” the situation grew way worse when they begin to hear loud growls and moans coming from the distance. Seungmin felt guilty and was also a bit worried about the missing wolf. Jeongin too, felt bad for what was happening. And Chan, well he felt like he could kill anyone at that moment.

But the wolves had it worse. They are connected to Jisung, making his pain more unbearable than the others. They had to save him, as soon as possible.

Chan and the wolves started moving out. The vampire firmly commanded Seungmin to stay put, giving Jeongin a cold gaze at the same time. Seungmin who was still infuriated by Chan, surprisingly listened to his instructions, he was worried about the safety of the boy without really admitting it.

“We should stay here, it’s not safe there.” Seungmin saw the hesitation in the boy’s eyes. “No, Yang Jeongin. We won’t be of help to them. Chan is strong, they will be okay.” the boy nodded. Seungmin was right. And he also hoped the witch would stop calling him with his full name.

Chan and the pack of wolves slowly approached the warehouse. The wolves talk among themselves through telepathy while Chan stands in front of the chained gate. He made his presence hidden, making him really hard to notice. Chan teleported through the gate, looking back at the wolves huddled in a line near a tree. He nodded at their direction and in a blink of an eye, the three wolves scattered around the place.

Chan made his way inside, but oddly enough he didn’t find any guards lurking around the place. Worry washed over him, he started sprinting towards the sound of moans and growls. He swung the door open and was greeted by 6 people holding up their guns towards Chan’s direction. For a split second, he saw a speaker on the table and cloth containing what seems to be the lost wolf’s blood and scent.

He let out a loud scream, baring his teeth and claws as he did so. The 5 men took a step back, the last one on the right spoke with a shaky voice, “Boss never said there would be a bloodhound.” in a flash the man dropped cold on the floor, his head rolled towards another man’s foot. Chan hated that name.

Chan stepped out the warehouse with bloody hands. The rest of the pack came running towards his direction, Hyunjin towing Jeongin and Seungmin behind him. “What happened, hyung---” although they already heard the happenings inside, Changbin continued to ask Chan about it. The empty gaze of the vampire made him stop midway.

Jeongin stared at Chan’s face. The one they were trying to find was clearly not there. “I’m sorry Chan, I thought smelled Jisung’s scent---” Chan pulls out the bloody cloth from his pocket. The waft of blood filters through the air, Woojin moves close towards Chan and gently picks up the cloth from his hand. He let out a low and painful growl, startling both Seungmin and Jeongin.

Hyunjin pulls the two closer, giving them a small smile as comfort. Even though he had his tail in between his legs just like Changbin. The tension grew larger and bolder. They have reached an impasse.

Seungmin, who just gained back his courage, breaks free from Hyunjin and Jeongin’s grip. He took small steps towards Chan and Woojin. “Let me have it.” Woojin’s grim expression melted away, plainly startled by the witch’s words. Seungmin held out his palm and motioned Woojin to hand it over. The rest of them watched the scene unfold.

Growing impatient, Seungmin snatched the cloth from Woojin and held it tightly between his palms. Jeongin saw how Seungmin’s hair turned white and his eyes went from dark to a striking violet shade. The cloth glowed, as the witch mumbled unintelligible words.

“I know where he is, come on.” Woojin collected the cloth from Seungmin, surprised by the sudden warmth of it. Jeongin let himself be dragged by the witch, his head turns towards the rest of the crew. He held up his hand , gesturing them to follow.

They paced around for about 15 minutes, Seungmin momentarily stops in front of an abandoned 2 story house. Jeongin didn’t even get the chance to look at the place when they were suddenly swept of the ground, and was carefully placed back down 5 meters away from their last location.

“There are guards, stay here.” Hyunjin transformed into a huge light grey wolf and disappeared into the bushes. Seungmin pushed Jeongin behind the tree and sat beside the boy. Again, he chanted unfamiliar terms, earning a side glance from Jeongin. “I put up a barrier within 5 feet.” Jeongin nodded and peered over the house watching the scene unfold.

Woojin knocks off one guard who was behind the warehouse while Changbin and Hyunjin knock out another one lurking around the bushes.

The vampire made his way inside the house, making sure to be as quiet as possible. And he did that by teleporting from place to place. Jisung’s growls and moans became more perceptible by ear. It sparked more anger building up inside Chan’s chest.

He bared his fangs and claws. Blood red eyes illuminated across the dark room. Chan looked through the small gap in the door. He saw 4 figures hovering around another one who was tied to a steel table. The sight made his blood boil.

It was Jisung.

Woojin barged inside through the huge window, full form visible under the faint light from the single lamp dangling at the ceiling. Changbin and Hyunjin followed their alpha from behind. Hyunjin gave Chan a fleeting glance, telling him not to do anything rash and stay hidden for a while.

A man in a suit appeared from the darkness, his blonde hair was slicked back, blue eyes looked at the pack of wolves hungrily. The man let out a low chuckle, “Our diversion didn’t work, but this is good. Imagine handing them 4 ancient wolves instead of just one?” the rest of the crew laughed, pulling out their guns as they did so. Woojin stepped back, his eyes darted from the guns, to Jisung, to the rest of his pack and lastly to Chan.

Chan turned up his smelling, and was welcomed by a strong metallic scent, “Silver bullets…” the blonde man turned his head towards Chan’s direction, he found two red eyes staring right at him, the man looked away, a smile creeping into his chiseled face.

“A pack of wolves with a vampire? Huh, makes sense now. But how did you find us?” the loud bang of the gun resonated around the room, alarming the pack of wolves and Chan. The man didn’t bother receiving an answer and ordered his men to start shooting. Woojin attacked the first guy on his left, while Hyunjin tried to nudge Jisung to wake up. Changbin leaped towards the rest of the two guards.

“Come on, let me fight.” but he was responded by a low growl from Woojin who just bit off the guards head. Woojin didn’t want Chan to fight. Jisung opened and his eyes and started to trash against the silver chains around his body. Hyunjin let out a small whine, telling Jisung it’s okay.

The wolf continued to go insane. Chan was itching to help them. But, a fiery gaze of order coming from the biggest wolf made him stay his ground. He knew the worst case scenario would be him, intervening with a fight consisting of Woojin’s pack. The fight continued without him. Woojin bit off one of the guards arm making the guy cry in pain. The alpha quickly ended his agony by decapitating him. Changbin and Hyunjin finished off the last of the guards, drawing all their attention to the mastermind.

A curious and inexplicable uneasiness bounced from one member to another. There was something weird about that man. The werewolves knew he was hunter, the way he was dressed and how his eyes looked at them with so much hunger. But what bothered them the most is the lack of fear in the man’s eyes.

Chan’s head snapped towards the window on his left side. He shambled away with speed. Gloom overcame him. Woojin and the rest of the pack simultaneously moved their heads towards Chan’s direction and back to the blonde man. An air of suffocating silence engulfed them. Woojin’s overwhelming demeanor vanished as his eyes danced in terror.

His voice echoed inside the heads of rest of his pack, “They got Jeongin and Seungmin”.


	3. The Creepy Mansion

The Creepy Mansion

 

Jeongin’s vision suddenly turned dark for a second, just a while ago he was just waiting impatiently for Chan and the rest of the pack to walk out from the building, hopefully, unharmed and safe. But now he was being carried like a sack by a big man. “Yang Jeongin!” he could hear the faint shouts of Seungmin, his vision became blurry and his hearing shifted from full volume to complete silence, vice versa. Jeongin wanted to wiggle his way out of the situation but he couldn’t, no matter how many times his brain tells his body to fucking move, it doesn’t comply.

He tried fighting the urge to sleep, wanting to know where he was being taken to. The man carrying him started talking, Jeongin came up with the hypothesis that he was on the phone. His mouth gaped and closed, but no words came out of them.

 

Not long until his body slumped onto the grass with a loud thud, it hurt, but it also made him more alert. Jeongin shut his eyes tightly, wanting nothing more than to see clearly. His spinning vision made out not one, but three figures lurking in front of him. One of them approached him,, touching his face. Before he could make out the face of that person, the guy spoke up “I told you, we’re gonna protect you” a few tears came to soften his seared vision, slowly but surely he leaned into the touch before passing out.

 

-

 

Hyunjin adjusted the boy on his back before trailing behind Woojin who stopped and gazed back at them. “Hyung, I can walk. Really.” there was a hint of embarrassment behind his voice as his face reddened with each word. He can feel the vibrations from Hyunjin’s back when the wolf chuckled. “Innie~ it’s okay. I also want to carry you.” if it was possible, his face would grow more red by the wolf’s sudden endearment. Knowing he won’t be put down any time soon, he just nuzzled his face on the wolf’s neck earning a soft giggle from him.

 

“Jeongin, just let Hyunjin do what he wants. He’s always like this.” Woojin said, slowing his pace to walk beside the two. Jeongin lifted up his gaze and faced the alpha. His soft features beamed at him, he had these loving eyes that pierced through his heart making him break into a big toothy smile. He gingerly rested his cheek on Hyunjin’s back, never leaving his eyes on Woojin who was now facing the road ahead.

 

Jeongin fell into his thoughts, too many questions arises from the circumstances in just one day. How did he got here? Why did he even went in the Chan’s Antique Shop? Ah, he unconsciously smiled, a constant stream of rhythmic memories came to him.

 

He was walking home from school, immersed on the song he was listening to. The music stopped and he waited for the next song to play, but it didn’t. Jeongin stopped on his tracks, fishing out his phone from his uniform’s pocket. His gaze fell on to a unfamiliar establishment on his left. His eyes wandered around the place, he murmured under his breath. “Huh, I haven’t seen this shop before??” eyes drifting at a more bigger area, he checked if he was on the right road. And upon seeing his usual go-to bakery shop across the street, Jeongin’s eyes fell back to the Antique Shop.

 

He swore he haven’t seen that shop at all. And he was born and grew up in this area. Taking the same route for 17 years. But this particular shop never caught his attention at all, and he’s the type of person to scan thoroughly through places he has or hasn’t been to.

 

Unconsciously his feet led him towards the wooden door prepped with thick glasses. ‘We’re Open’ he mouthed the sign that was swinging back and forth. It was just flipped over by someone. Not really wanting to go home yet, Jeongin looked both ways before opening the door. The bell chimed as he walked towards the first thing that caught his eyes. Propped on the table were small pocket watches, each had their own distinct features. Some were ticking and working, but some aren’t.

 

“What can I do for you?”

 

He set his imagination adrift when Hyunjin came to a halt. Jeongin lifted his head, eyes trailing to everyone’s figures. He had this weird habit of counting stuff and sometimes people, checking if they are all there. Before fixing his eyes on the big mansion in front of them. “THIS is your house?” he can hear Seungmin almost gasp at the sight, he can’t blame him. It was a really huge house. No, it wasn’t just a house, it was a fucking mansion. Though it looked a bit creepy and old on the outside, you can feel the warmth of “home” emanating around it, as if someone really lived there.

 

Chan snickered at Seungmin’s remark. The man was still bothered by the fact that Seungmin brought the boy with him, and also put both his and Jeongin’s life in danger (even though he didn’t want to admit it). Seungmin turned to Chan, his eyes literally blazed with savage fire. “Really? Giving me the fucking attitude, now?” the situation grew heavy as the two scowled at each other. Chan ran his hand through his curly locks, sighing in the process. “Who wouldn’t give you a ‘fucking attitude’, wasn’t it clear that we’re not supposed to drag that thing into this?” a great pang gripped Jeongin’s heart upon hearing Chan addressing him as ‘a thing’. Seungmin side eyed Jeongin, he knew the boy was sensitive.

 

“First, don’t call him as an “IT”, he’s a human being. And second, I had no choice, Chan!! You run off with Woojin hyung to heaven only knows and left me behind with Yang Jeongin who saw you transform and whom you almost killed even though know you know you can’t kill anymore! And you know I can’t erase memories!! Only you can do that you asshat bloodsucker!!”

 

“Then I’m gonna do it now!” Chan stomped towards Hyunjin who was carrying the boy, Jeongin covered his eyes. He had made a decision not to let his memories be erased because he wanted to help the vampire, in a short span of time he learned to love the guy with all his heart. Chan was his only friend, and for him losing Chan would crush his soul, to make things worse he will never even remember who the vampire was. Their friendship will just go down the drain. And he hated the idea.

 

“No! I don’t want my memories to be erased, I don’t want it!” he knew he sounded like a kid throwing a tantrum, but those were the words he could come up with at the moment. Jeongin was still shaken by the circumstances that happened earlier and also what was happening now. Seungmin who was aware of the boy’s intention pulled Chan back into their argument. They continued on for about 5 minutes. All of them gawked at the two throwing hurtful words towards each other as if it’s their second nature. The petty squabble, escalated quickly. Seungmin’s hair turned white as his eye color was replaced by a bright violet shade. Chan on the other hand, bared his claws and teeth. Both of them ready to settle things once and for all.

 

While the rest of them were absorbed by the sudden outburst, Woojin lowered his head, clenching his fists. He was growing impatient with the two. Even on their way to the house, the two would give each other an evil eye, probably hexing inside their heads. With a low sounding growl coming from the depths of the alpha’s anger, Seungmin and Chan cowered changing back to their normal state while slowly but surely lowering their gaze towards the ground. Jeongin could feel Hyunjin adjusting his position once more. Changbin who was carrying Jisung on his back almost lost his balance. This made Jeongin engrave the words “Do not make Woojin hyung mad” inside his head.

 

The alpha spoke in a low and authoritative tone, “Settle this when we all get some rest and food. Now, quit it before you really get in my nerves.” the both of them nodded and moved aside as Woojin trailed pass them. Woojin walked towards the door, pulling out a key before ushering the rest to go in.

 

Hyunjin trailed behind everyone, Jeongin who was still terrified by Woojin, wiggled himself off of Hyunjin’s back. Before the wolf could retaliate, he raised a silencing hand. “Hyung, I’m okay. Plus we’re here now, I can walk.” Hyunjin cannot argue anymore after seeing the boy’s toothy grin. He nodded in defeat and held out his hand, telling the boy to go ahead. Jeongin turned to his heel and walked towards the door.

 

Chan fidgeted in front of the door, Jeongin tilted his head curiously. “Come in, Chan.” on cue, Chan sticks his foot and continues to go in when it went through with ease. Seungmin gazed back at him, Woojin answered his unasked question “The house is in my name, so Chan can’t really come in even though he lives here.” Seungmin was surprised by the sudden mood change of the alpha, nonetheless he pushed aside his astonishment and nodded before ambling behind Chan.

 

Jeongin nonchalantly headed towards the door frame but was surprised when he stumbled back, he ignored the weird feeling, telling himself he just lost his balance. But for the second time around, he forced himself to go in and was expelled back, Hyunjin catching him on his arms. He composed himself and tried again.

 

Hyunjin watched Jeongin in awe. Woojin came back to the door, asking for the reason of their delay. His eyes found Hyunjin who was behind Jeongin, pointing at the boy, his face had every sign of surprise in it. “What?” the boy continued to barge through the door frame. Jeongin looked at Woojin, eyes full of wondering frustration. “Hyung, I-I can’t come in. There’s some sort of barrier.” ·

 

“I’ll stay out here. You guys can go in without me. Tell Seungmin hyung and Channie---I mean Chan hyung, I’m sorry and that I left early.” knowing the two wouldn’t leave him without being forced. He pushed both of them back in, halting as his hand made contact with the invisible barrier. Hyunjin gave him an apologetic smile, “I’ll get Seungmin! Stay. Here.” the boy moved towards the porch, sitting on the swing. He really didn’t want to leave also and Hyunjin’s words put him into some sort of spell.

 

Questions rested in the air around him, tapping his hands in a soothing rhythm against his thighs. Seungmin emerged beside him, filling in the empty space as he sat down. “Woojin hyung said you can’t come in. Is that true, Yang Jeongin?” the boy scratched his head, turning to Seungmin. “Please just call me Jeongin, hyung.” the witch nodded, staring at the boy with undefeated eyes. He clearly wanted his last question to be answered.

 

Jeongin stood up, Seungmin’s gaze followed his back as he and pushed his hand through the door frame, Jeongin was met with a familiar sensation before withdrawing his hand back and sitting beside the confused witch.

 

Before he could speak up, Jeongin gave him a grin. “It’s okay, Hyung. I don’t want to bother them anyway. Oh--” Jeongin turned his head towards the fountain. “I just wanted to thank you for saving me back there, and I’m also sorry for all the trouble I caused.” his eyes gazed towards Seungmin, his face not leaving it’s current position giving the witch a small sincere smile. The witch couldn’t hide his embarrassment. This was the first time anyone has ever thanked him with sincerity. The boy chuckled and patted the older’s shoulder. Jeongin made sure not to make him uncomfortable, he tried making the witch open up slowly by talking about school. Seungmin didn’t even realized he was ranting about how hard his duty was to the boy. Jeongin didn’t mind at all, he looked at the older with curious eyes. Saying small comments here and there.

 

Midway through their clubs talk, a snow white fox emerged from the bushes, running towards the porch. And behind it was a black cat, heading the same direction. Jeongin looked in awe. The fox had small specs on its face, making it look like it had freckles! The boy heard Seungmin’s exasperated smile, he turned to him and asked what was wrong. The witch explained to Jeongin how he knows the two, the boy was more surprised upon discovering that the fox was a 9 tailed fox and that the simple looking cat was a Bakeneko (Seungmin told him it was a Japanese Cat that had powers of some sorts, he was making snarky remarks, so Jeongin could tell they weren’t really in good terms)

 

Recognizing the voice, the freckled fox turned to the two presences near him. His eyes glowed and suddenly he transformed into his real form, startling Jeongin. The cat also converted to his real form, towering beside the magnificent 9 tailed fox with his shiny black fur and two feet long tails with a blue flame on each end. The cat thought the boy was trouble.

 

But, the fox let out a slight whine. The cat whipped his head towards the the fox, recognizing the sound it made. Chan popped out of nowhere, his eyes danced between the 4 figures. Seungmin was very confused as the fox looked at Chan in a meaningful way.

 

“Come with me.” the vampire pulled Jeongin towards the door, Seungmin who was a step late rushed behind the two. The fox and the cat transformed into their human forms, blocking the witch’s path. “Felix! Minho! Move! Jeongin is in danger, Chan will---” but Felix shook his head and told him off with his baritone voice, “Chill, he won’t do that. Ever.”

 

Chan pushed the boy towards the door, an unsettling feeling twisted inside Jeongin’s stomach as he neared the door frame. “Hyung! Stop! I can’t get in there--” the same force propelled him back. The vampire’s gaze seemed full on unconquerable doubts. Chan called out to Woojin, the alpha rushed outside thinking something bad had happened but was welcomed by a stern looking Chan and Jeongin who was looking at him through his lashes. “Chan, what’s going on?”

“Invite me in” Woojin fell a step back, but did as the vampire told him. “Come in, Chan.” and he did. Eyes never leaving the boy’s face. Woojin was bewildered. What the hell was happening? He asked himself. “Now, invite the boy in.” the alpha grew more confused with Chan’s remarks. Nonetheless, he did it. “Come in, Jeongin.”

 

Chan nodded at the boy, eyes burning holes on his face. Jeongin swallowed the lump on his throat, closing his eyes as he braced for impact. His toes caught up and he tripped, falling into the vampire’s arms. Chan’s senses went haywire as he held the boy close to him. Jeongin stood there frozen while the vampire clings to him for dear life. The rest of the pack who was now crowding behind the alpha watched in wonder, Jisung trailed behind them asking Changbin what was happening with a small voice, but the rest of them was immersed with the situation, no one batted an eye to Jisung. Seungmin’s gaze falling onto Felix’s freckled face, his expression was torn with conflict and bewilderment. The fox sighed, nudging Minho with his elbow. The cat turned to all of them, speaking in a soft manner.

 

“That kid is Chan’s bond mate.”


	4. Bonded

Bonded

The suffocating silence bothered Jeongin. The rest of the pack rushed at the doorstep, including Jisung, bombarding him with questions he couldn’t quite understand. Amidst the chaos, Seungmin stood in front of the boy, blocking him away from Chan who’s eyes have been gazing at him intently. A firm grasp on Woojin’s left wrist made him look up, “Woojin hyung” his voice was desperate. Woojin knew the boy wanted answers.

He pulled the boy to his side, earning the long awaited silence. Seungmin was about to speak up when his eyes found Jeongin’s, they were practically begging him to just stay quiet. The witch’s furrowed eyebrows relaxed as he sighed in defeat, pushing the rest inside the house. Seungmin went back and dragged Felix and Minho by their ears, both of them breaking into a fit of whines. The alpha turned to Jeongin, giving the boy a small smile before leading him inside the house. Woojin’s hand were big and warm, Jeongin felt reassured with just that.

His eyes wandered around the wide hallway, his muddy shoes leaving stain on the carpeted floor. Jeongin reminded himself to apologize to Woojin later. The hallway was decorated with simple paintings on the walls and a few vases on top of stools. The pack probably didn’t want to redecorate the place in honor of the previous owner. With that, he started coming up with questions regarding the wolves and Chan’s lives. Plus, the mansion.

The hallway leads to the an open space. Jeongin who was whisked away from his thoughts, saw the rest of the boys gathered at the circular sofa, their heads were on the same level as his and Woojin’s feet. “Careful of the steps, Hyunjin usually slips.” the mentioned wolf whimpers, receiving a loud cackle from Changbin. “Hyunjin trips at least twice a week.”

Felix giggled, “What?” his deep voice was cut off with the sudden stares from everyone in the room. For the first time in a while, the tension was broken. Chan huffed out air, he too was tired of the heavy air around them. He smiled, “Felix is easily amused, pay him no mind.” the first playful words coming from him swept the suffocating air away. Felix pouted, shouting a loud ‘Hey!’ afterwards. While the others laughed, Woojin pulled Jeongin, settling him in between Jisung and Hyunjin. “Are you okay now, Jisung hyung?” the wolf nodded, giving the boy a smile as they open up a small talk. Hyunjin leaned over, gingerly placing his head on the boy’s shoulder. Jeongin flinched at the sudden contact, but loosened up at the sight of Hyunjin. “Jin, don’t make the boy uncomfortable.” Hyunjin whined and attached himself to Jeongin, earning a soft giggle from Woojin. The alpha eventually gave up, he can’t change about the fact that Hyunjin is a cuddle bug.

The laughter dies down, it was silent. But not the same silence as earlier. Woojin beams as he faces Chan. “Oh, why don’t your friends introduce themselves, huh, Chan?” Felix and Minho spares Chan a glance, finally speaking up when the older nods. They don’t usually get permission from someone higher than them, they were free spirits, usually messing with people back in Japan. But after meeting Chan, they pay so much respect for the vampire.

Felix’s meeting wasn’t the best one, but it was pretty memorable.

Chan was on a trip to Japan, he was importing vases from a very famous antique shop in Okinawa. It was a hard gamble as the owner of the shop didn’t want anyone to re-sell his products. Chan was a very patient person, he tried to talk as calm and casual as possible. But the old man was not having any of it. He was close to just hypnotizing him but it bothered his conscience, not that he has one anyways.

On his way out, he was bothered by a eerie presence, it was subtle but he can tell the sheer amount of power being suppressed. His head snapped towards the rooftop of a candy shop. There, he saw a small fox watching him intently with his doe eyes, his speck-littered face standing out in the open. The fox was sure his presence was hidden. As he made eye contact with the man, his small body shivered in fear. Chan’s deep and dark orbs flashed red, he smiles at the fox. Nodding at him before going his merry way.

Felix was a bit, arrogant. The town his shrine was located was somewhat, peaceful. The bad spirits were nothing more than deranged souls who strayed from their paths. And he wasn’t the only God/Guardian in that huge town. There were lots of them. Ranging from powerful to mediocre ones. Felix was one of the most influential and known God. His personality in most cases, is pretty normal. He was a nice God, a bit playful nonetheless. But the residents don’t have complaints against the fox.

They admired him the most whenever they get to see a glimpse of his full form. His huge figure partially hidden in the depths of the woods as the moon reflected against his glimmering white fur, littered with black specs focused on his face. Felix was beautiful indeed.

The fox had no particular reason for staying. But he had a reason for leaving, it was Chan.

“I’m Felix. I am uh, a 9 tailed fox, Minho and I are both from Japan.” Chan snickered as Felix began unveiling his tails one by one. The room broke into gasps. Minho turned to Chan, in cue, they both laughed underneath their breath as they shake their heads simultaneously. Lix was a bit of a show-off. It wasn’t the worst, but you can’t help but scoff whenever he does so.

Chan glances at Jeongin who was busy admiring Felix’s tails. He can’t help but break into a smile when the boy stood up and asked Felix, politely, if he could touch them. Felix gave the boy a big smile, telling him it was fine. “Wow, so fluffy!” the rest literally melted when the boy jumped up and down with a silly smile on his face. His braces on full view for everyone to see. And when most of them have moved on by the majestic scene, Jeongin couldn’t stop admiring the fox. Felix forced him to sit down between him and Seungmin.

Felix has always been nice. Sure he was a bit playful with the townspeople near his shrine but in general, he was just a quiet God. Looking over his people.

Minho, was a different case. He was stubborn and naive. He liked playing with the locals, especially the school girls who visit his shrine. Minho usually blows towards the girls, their skirts riding up as the harsh wind hits them. He would throw rocks at the roofs of some elderly people, just for the heck of it. They know it was him. The God of their village. His shrine was atop a small hill, with the perfect view of the whole village. The elderly would curse at him, using mantras to make the Bakeneko go back to its shrine.

You would really expect for him to have a bad reputation within the town. With his usual childish acts and pranks, he should’ve been a stray God by now. But he wasn’t. Minho is weird and arrogant and obnoxious. But the village was thankful for him, Minho has done a lot of stupid things but none of them are gravely bad. He has done more good than any God that has set foot at their small town. Minho always gave them a good harvest, plenty of fish, nature was always bountiful and vibrant. And his petty pranks made the village more lively.

That’s why when Chan stumbled upon his shrine, he couldn’t help but admire the size of it. It was vibrant and clean. Offerings piled neatly on the shiny wooden floor. People from all around the village visiting back and forth. Chan was impressed, despite the bad reviews of the God, the locals still respect and admire him.

But, up to this date. He never really knew why the cat left Japan. He never knew why Minho snuck into his hotel room on his last day there.

“I’m Minho. I’m a bakeneko from Japan.”

“What’s a bakeneko?”

“It’s like a ghost cat.”

Changbin nodded, somewhat satisfied with the answer given to him.

After the pleasantries were exchanged, they all engaged in conversations. It wasn’t just a small, casual talk to fill in the gaps. They talked about stuff close friends normally dabble in. Woojin can’t help but smile as he admires the people around him going along just fine, despite the multiple feuds they had within the span of a day.

Seungmin who was wandering his eyes around the finally decided to ask the question that has been sitting in his head. “How did you guys get ahold of this place?” his tone directed to Woojin. With a weary look, the rest of the pack turned their heads to their alpha. “Yeah Hyung, how did you find this place?” Seungmin followed Jeongin’s gaze towards Woojin, thankful because he backed him up. Woojin can’t help but break into a smile with the boy’s gesture. Jeongin’s head was tilted to the side as he playfully wraps one of Felix’s tail around wrist.

“Well, to make things short. There was this soldier who stumbled upon our small den during the World War I. He was miles away from his battalion. He was a wise guy to say at least.” a few pair of eyes followed Woojin’s finger, pointing at a huge portrait on the cream colored walls. Woojin lowered his hand, proceeding with his story. “Jisung,” the said wolf let out a small whine, lowering his head. Hyunjin threw a hand around the wolf, nuzzling him closer. “Was still very sensitive back then–” his next words fell to the floor, unsaid, as he sees Jisung shaking a bit in the arms of Hyunjin. He cleared his throat and decided to choose his words wisely. “Changbin was very territorial. While, Hyunjin was the most rational between all of us. It was hard not to trust the man, he was very clever for his age. He didn’t like war. Wished he could stop it, but instead he was forced to join the army in the name of his family’s honor.”

Jeongin was compelled by the story. His eyes glistened in curiosity as he listened to the alpha’s soothing voice. He felt like a kid again, listening to his teacher’s stories during kindergarten and preschool. Woojin continues his history class. Changbin left 5 minutes ago, telling them he was gonna go get some snacks since everyone didn’t have the appetite to eat a heavy meal. The story about the mansion finished, and the rest of them started telling their own. Minho, bullshiting everyone into believing he created Japan. He earned a smack on the head from Chan because of it.

As they continue to munch on their chips, Jeongin gazes at Felix who was fast asleep on his lap. Jeongin’s fingers running through the fox’s strawberry tinted locks. The boy tried to reach out for his bag on the side of the couch. He was also trying hard not to wake the fox. Jeongin mumbled a silent thanks to Jisung who made his task easier. The current state of his bag made his frown, his mom is definitely gonna question him about it. He sighed and carefully opening it. Rummaging through his notes and a few personal necessities, his hand found what he was trying to retrieve. Jeongin placed his bag between his knees and continued to unlock his phone.

There were only 2 missed calls from his mom, he sighed. Thankful that it wasn’t his dad. He buried his face in front of the screen as he types in a message for his mom, telling her he was okay and was only at a friend’s house. His thumbs stopped moving, Jeongin eyed the last word he typed in, “Friends” he really didn’t have any. His mom pushed him further to make friends but he really didn’t know who was at fault. Jeongin doesn’t really claim that he’s the nicest person. Sure he was naive and a bit of a cast off, but he wasn’t rude to anyone. He greeted his classmates on his first day but none of them really stuck to him. They only talk when it’s related to school. You can’t even tell if it was a ‘casual’ relationship. He was sometimes invisible in class, only getting recognized when the teacher calls him out for spacing out.

“Hey, Jeongin. Do you need to get home?” he pressed send before looking up to Hyunjin. The wolf gave him a worried look and proceeded to walk to his position. The wolf plopped down in front of him and put his hand on Jeongin’s knee. The room went silent, they waited for the boy’s answer. It was really late, and the boy’s family is probably worried. “Hyung, it’s okay. I texted my mom that I was at a..” a lump in his throat caught his next words. “F-friends. And that I’ll be home by midnight at least.” Woojin stood up and peered over at the closest window. It was really dark, his eyes traveled to the moon, shining brightly than normal. He hummed in thought before turning back to the rest of the pack.

He gave them his most fatherly smile.

“How about a sleepover?”

-

For the last 30 minutes, Hyunjin and Jisung who was now acting normal according to Changbin, were both chanting “Sleepover!” while jumping up and down the couch. Felix was woken up by the commotion and after processing what was happening, he joined the two idiots. “The couch, you fucking cunts!” the three of them scurried away from a fuming Changbin. Jeongin looked in awe. Obviously culture shocked. Jeongin had called his mom after Hyunjin insisted on him sleeping over. The sound of his mom crying over the phone telling him she was proud of him finally making friends, was definitely alarming. Hyunjin had snatched his phone and told his mom that they will take care of her baby. Jeongin was embarrassed, but he can’t help but smile. It was his first ever sleepover.

“I’m going home.” Jeongin whipped his head towards Seungmin’s direction, the witch walked past him, heading towards the door. Jeongin gripped his wrist, making the older turn to him. “Don’t go?” his tone was vague, he didn’t know if he was asking him or telling him. Seungmin didn’t know what took over him when he nodded his head and sat beside the boy. Just like Jeongin, he didn’t have any friends, the only difference is that he didn’t want to make such connections. He always thought that the need to socialize was a pain in the ass. The Student Council was already a big burden to bear. He had to put up a strict but reliable facade in front of the students and the teachers. Having friends was just a distraction. Well, aside for Chan.

“How about you two wash up upstairs. Hyunjin’s clothes might fit both of you, I’ll call you guys when,” Woojin looked at the clock on the wall. “Super late dinner is ready. Alright?” he chuckled midway and turned his back after getting a nod from both of them. There was something about Woojin that made Seungmin follow his every command. Jeongin turned to Seungmin when he felt him shiver. The witch was reminded of the alpha almost losing his temper earlier. Woojin was patient no matter how grave the moment is, but today was different. Jisung has been kidnapped and they had to protect an innocent human boy. He had to step up and show his authority or else they wouldn’t get things done.

Seungmin doesn’t want to admit it but, he respects the alpha. Maybe even more than Chan.

“Let’s go!!!!!” they were both pulled off from their seats. Hyunjin dragging them upstairs as he giggled. Jeongin tried to look back while keeping up with the wolf, he saw a laughing Felix being chased by a grinning Changbin. He can’t help but break into a smile, reaching out his hand to the fox who greatly accepted it. “Hey! That’s not fair!” Seungmin almost breaking into a fit of laughter because of Changbin’s last remarks before they disappeared around the corner.

The wooden door smacked shut right in front of Changbin. Hyunjin fell down the carpeted floor, almost losing his sanity as he laughed. Felix fell on top of him, his face was red and tears were on the verge of falling from his eyes. Jeongin giggled as he sat on the bed, pulling Seungmin beside him. The boy was a ecstatic when he saw the glow on Seungmin’s eyes as he smiled at him. He knew the witch was having fun despite what had happened earlier. The door opened and a grim looking Changbin stared down on the two figures squirming on the floor.

The three of them trashed around the room, Changbin holding a death grip on Hyunjin’s neck while both Jeongin and Seungmin rushed to his aid. Seungmin gave up halfway no longer being able to hold back his laughter and collapsed beside Felix who was barely breathing. “Hwang Hyunjin. I will fucking end you. You fucking cunt, you broke my nose!” Jeongin was barely even putting effort on trying to pry them away from each other. He was cackling so hard he can’t even stand up. His chest hit Changbin’s back, letting the wolf carry his weight while he chokes Hyunjin. The wolf underneath tried his best to explain his side, telling Changbin that his nose healed within a second.

“What is happe–” Jisung’s question hung in the air when he looked at the chaos. Choking on his saliva he rushed towards Hyunjin, easily pulling off Changbin from Hyunjin. Changbin proceeded trashing his fists towards Hyunjin who was hoisted up from the floor by Seungmin. Hyunjin leaned half of his weight on Seungmin, the witch momentarily stumbled but anchored his foot on the ground to hold up the almost dying wolf.

Changbin calmed down after a while as they all slumped on the king sized bed in the center of the room. They started small talk with each other. Hyunjin was convinced Seungmin has at least 2 personalities. He observed how the witch transitioned from almost dying from laughter to his usual stoic face just nodding and responding with short comments. Shaking his head, he paid attention to Jisung who was telling a funny story. A soft knock on the door made them turn their heads. Minho enters the room quietly, the sudden lack of voices amplified the sound of the cat’s footsteps.

He stopped on the foot of the bed. Staring languidly at the people who were atop it. Felix suddenly realized the situation and scrambled to his feet, “MINHO NO—GUYS OFF THE BED NOW!!” loud moans and groans filled the air. Minho purred, full form crushing the contents of the bed. Felix who was the only one who got out, tried to push the giant cat off the rest of the guys. He wasn’t honestly putting all his weight on them, Minho was just being playful and was jealous of all the action he wasn’t getting.

After successfully removing Minho from them, the boys continued to talk. With the additional presence, the room was much more louder. Filled with their laughter and voices.

“Oh, right! Go wash up!” Hyunjin pushed Jeongin towards the full bathroom, he told the boy he’s gonna bring him some clothes in a few minutes. Jeongin wanted to refuse, his debt was already so big, but his clothes sticking to his skin wasn’t a good sign. Smelly, is a valid reason for him to take up the offer. So he let himself in the bathroom, closing the frosted glass door behind him.

It was indeed the most beautiful bathroom he has ever been in, and it was a huge compliment because he has only been in two. The full sized bathtub reminded him of a Jacuzzi which, in his case, was very luxurious. Jeongin was tempted on using the tub, but he knew he didn’t have time to do so. And it was kinda embarrassing. He proceeded on showering, discarding his clothes and piling them neatly atop the sink. Hyunjin came back with fresh clothes. Earning a blush from the boy when he complimented his upper body. Jeongin was thankful he was able to wrap a towel on his torso. Seungmin washed up also and they all went back to the bed. The witch was getting used to all the ruckus and he can’t deny that he enjoyed it.

“Boys! Dinner!” Woojin’s amplified voice resonated around the house. The boys went downstairs, drooling over the feast on the table. Without delay, they all sat down and began to chow down. “For fuck’s sake Hyunjin, your spitting pasta all over the goddamn table.” Jeongin chuckled, placing his glass back down. His eye caught Chan. The vampire was just sitting beside Woojin, both engrossed in a conversation. But that wasn’t the case. Jeongin was bothered by the lack of food on the man’s plate. There was absolutely nothing in it, Seungmin tapped the boys thigh under the table. “Chan doesn’t need to eat.” Jeongin nodded, he was still not satisfied with it but he didn’t ponder on it too much.

Dinner ended with Minho shoving ice cream down Changbin’s throat, he enjoyed the look on the wolf’s face as he does so. After that ‘fulfilling’ desert, they went back to the living room. Playing 4 rounds of UNO before Woojin called it a night. He proceeded on showing Jeongin the guest room, Seungmin demanded to stay with the boy even though they had another room prepared for him. Woojin doesn’t want to argue, so he let him be. He knew the witch was still weary of Chan, even he was worried. This is not the best outcome he had hoped for.

Sleep didn’t come easy to Jeongin. The whistling of the wind outside was not a lullaby for him tonight. Jeongin let out a deep sigh, carefully removing himself underneath the blanket. He glanced at the witch sleeping peacefully beside him. He stood up and ambled towards the door. As he descended down the dim lighted stairs, he saw light coming from the kitchen. “Chan hyung?” the vampire turned to him with a soft smile. He smiled back, he sat on top of the counter, head turned towards Chan.

“Can’t sleep?” it was a dumb question. But Jeongin wasn’t sure on what to say to Chan. The vampire smiled at him and nodded. Chan walked to the fridge, fishing out a box of chocolate milk. He handed it to the boy, earning a small thanks from him. “Sorry about um, everything” Chan was the best when it comes to this, he always choose the right words and his advice are mostly logical and helpful.

But this is different, he suddenly ran out of words to say. The boy was his bond mate. Now that he had room for it inside his head, he was curious. On why he didn’t realize it in the first place. It was fate, indeed. A vampire’s bond mate is bound to arrive no matter what, but no one knows when. Chan was centuries old when he stopped hoping for his bond to come. It was a pain in the ass, he had to take care of them and if they die, he would also die. It doesn’t make sense at all. Why would he risk his life for someone who’s the key to his death? That’s stupid.

“It’s okay, Channie hyung!” ah, that’s why. The empty feeling on his heart vanished, his eyes focused on Jeongin’s face. This was it. This is the reason. He snickered, it was a petty reason. But why does it fit the puzzle pieces? “What’s wrong hyung?” Jeongin tilted his head and took a sip on his drink. Chan shakes his head and moves closer to the boy.

Unlike earlier, Jeongin didn’t want to run. He wasn’t scared of him anymore. He didn’t have that disgusting feeling in his stomach whenever he remembers the blood spilling on the antique shop’s floor.

With the last step, Chan stood between Jeongin’s legs. The boy places his, now empty drink on his right side. He looks up to the vampire. Sure, he admired Chan. But he really didn’t get the chance to look at him closely. And for him, Chan was beautiful. His blonde curly locks fell perfecly above his soft eyes. His thick lips formed into a smile, dimples on full display as well.

Chan was breathtaking.

With that, Jeongin slowly opened his arms, his smile growing larger as he do so. And for the first time, Chan didn’t hesitate wrapping his arms around the boy’s petite figure. Burying his face on Jeongin’s neck.

“Thanks, Jeongin.”


	5. School Life

School Life

With the gates wide-open, waves of students came rushing into the campus, waving their hands to their friends. Soon enough, groups of bickering teens crowd the empty grounds. The harsh winter wind weighing on their skins since this morning. It was the start of the ‘ber’ months, and winter in Seoul is nothing to brag about. It was fucking freezing, and this is just the beginning of the harsh winter.

Jeongin’s feet stopped right in front of the thin line separating him from the inside of the University. His grip tightened onto the straps of his backpack. Jeongin wasn’t sure if he would get repelled back because no one invited him in. He had no close friends within his class and it would be strange to ask a random student to invite him in. He sighed and trailing his eyes to the students who are walking towards their respective classes. “Yang Jeongin.” Seungmin stood behind the boy, putting his hand on his shoulder. Jeongin, who was now getting used to people just appearing out of nowhere, turned around meeting the eyes of the witch.

He tiptoed towards the older, and gave him a brief hug. Pulling away as he saw the curious looks given to them by the students. Panic stricken, the boy bowed. Jeongin forgot Seungmin was his upper class man and also the Student Council President. “Sorry.” Seungmin hummed in response, noticing how the boy acted. He observed his surroundings and make out their current disposition. He returned his attention to Jeongin’s whose head hung low. “It’s okay. Why are you just standing here, don’t you have class?” Jeongin played with his fingers, embarrassed of admitting his doubts to the witch. Seungmin’s eyes briefly grew wide in realization. “Oh, let’s go now.” he grasped Jeongin’s hand. Dragging him inside the campus. Jeongin shut his eyes shut and prepared for the worst. He might roll back, or maybe even fly away a few feet. Different scenarios in his head played, and it was not helping at all. However, he didn’t feel the weird barrier preventing him to go in.

“Open your eyes, kid. Invitations don’t work in schools or any public establishments.” Seungmin knew Jeongin would be pondering over his ‘current status’ a lot. Especially the ‘you have to been invited in’ situation. What he said was true, a vampire can enter any public establishment freely, without invitation. In spite of that, they cannot enter a private place or in simple words, a person’s home, without being invited in. However, centuries ago, vampires would try to gain entrance by tricking by tricking a person into believing they are someone else. Like a close relative or a friend of the owner.

Seungmin’s eyes trailed to Jeongin who was now calmly walking beside him, ‘he was a different case’ the witch thought. Is it even possible for a ‘bond mate’ to have the same situation as a full vampire? He continued to eye the boy curiously, the constant stream of memories from yesterday’s ‘sleepover’ playing inside his head.

Seungmin couldn’t go to sleep. He doesn’t really need that much sleep also, but after what happened earlier, he was tired. Unfortunately, not that tired to fall asleep. He was aware of the boy beside him tossing and turning from time to time, Jeongin couldn’t sleep either. At around 3am, he felt the bed shifting because of weight being lifted from it. He bolted upright once the door was closed with a soft thud. Slowly and softly, he followed Jeongin. Only noticing he was holding his breath once the boy’s head disappeared from the stairs. ‘He’s heading for the kitchen’ Seungmin mumbled.

Taking careful steps, Seungmin peered through the wall separating the living room and the kitchen. He saw how Jeongin stopped dead on his tracks, he heard the boy call out to the other presence in the kitchen. ‘Chan hyung?’ voice soft and low. Seungmin knitted his eyebrows. What is that blood sucking idiot doing here? Seungmin knows he doesn’t need sleep but, out of all the places inside that ginormous house, why the kitchen?

Did Chan plan this? Did he lure the boy? Or maybe it was just a coincidence? When he was about to make his presence known, Jeongin welcomed Chan into an embrace. The doubt inside Seungmin’s head vanished, as he turned his back heading upstairs with a small smile on his face, he knew he just lost to his own head. He finally knew he was worrying for nothing at all. How could he be so blind? Sure, Chan was scary and powerful, that vampire is not easy to deal with. Contrary to his ‘intent to kill’ earlier that day, Chan will never hurt a weak human being.

And Jeongin was no exception to that.

A few hours later, the sun seeped through the curtains in their room. Jeongin stirred awake, rubbing his eyes as they slowly adjust to the sunlight. He sat upright and yawned, stretching both his arms in the air. His jaw was caught as his eyes noticed the ‘figures’ staring at him with googly eyes. “Isn’t he just so adorable!” Hyunjin’s voice was a few octaves higher, during that time he smacked Jisung and Changbin because he couldn’t contain his excitement. Making Seungmin, who was really annoyed because he couldn’t get any sleep at all, threw a pillow hitting Hyunjin square in the face. The wolf stumbled, recovering after, while he whines about the witch enchanting the pillow. Changbin and Jisung’s laughter can be heard in the background.

Seungmin really thought they could go home as soon as they woke up. But there he was, sitting on the couch, dumbfounded. Eyes traveling from Felix who was doing the Fortnite dance because he won the game, to Jisung and Changbin groaning in frustration because they lost, to Woojin and Chan watching the boys with fatherly smiles, to Hyunjin drying Jeongin’s hair, and well… Minho who was throwing praises at himself as he checks his reflection on the small mirror in his hand. Seungmin scoffed out loud, making the rest look at him.

His pupils dilated and only a loud “NO!” was heard, as Minho pulls him into a human/non human pile on the floor.

“Seungmin!” the familiar figure running towards them made Seungmin halt in place, Jeongin doing the same. The pretty girl stops in front of Seungmin, tucking a few strand of her hair behind her ear. She gave the witch a big smile. But the boy beside him didn’t go unnoticed, her eyes shifted to Jeongin for a second before she turns her attention to Seungmin. “Let’s walk together to the office!”  
“Hwaryun, can’t you see I’m with someone?” the girl’s smile wavered. She peered over the boy, this time holding her gaze. Annoyed by the fact that Seungmin was more interested in him than the Vice President of the Student Council and from what she claimed that she was his ‘best friend’. Seungmin gave her a cold stare, “I will be there before the meeting with the school journalists after lunch. See you.” He nonchalantly passed by her. Jeongin who was unaware of the eerie tension, bowed at the girl before catching up with Seungmin.

He matched his pace with the witch, moving his eyes to Seungmin’s face. A small smile forming on his lips, Jeongin couldn’t help but feel accomplished. It’s really something he could brag about, his friendship with Seungmin. Well, the witch didn’t confirm it yet but nonetheless, he felt happy. “Why are you smiling like an idiot, Yang Jeongin?” the boy pouted. He told off the older to just call him by his name. Yesterday at the mansion, he was sure he had mentioned ‘Just call me Jeongin, hyung’ for at least 50 times. But Seungmin would still call him by his full name. “Hyung, I told you–”

“Right right! Sorry, Jeongin.”

Those were the last words they exchanged before they continued walking towards Jeongin’s class. Out of instinct, Jeongin stopped right in front of the door. One of his classmate bumping into him, no apology given. “Manners, Mr. Jung Sejun.” the familiar voice startled the boy, bowing 90 degrees before forcing a low ‘sorry’ directing it to Seungmin instead of Jeongin. The boy sped off towards the bathroom, thinking to himself why was the university’s council president outside their room.

Jeongin stuck his foot through the door, continuing into a step when he felt no such barrier. He proceeded on walking towards his seat near the window, clearly unaware of the witch ambling behind him. As he turns to sit down, he notices Seungmin taking the chair from the empty seat in front of his desk. “Hyung? Why are you still here?” he watched as the witch placed the chair near his table, sitting down facing him. Seungmin signals him to sit down also.

“To kill some time. Your class doesn’t start in 20 minutes, right?” all Jeongin could do was nod in awe. The buzzing of voices around them grew louder. Seungmin gave him a smile, “Ignore them.” he smiled back, eagerly nodding his head. This time, the witch started the conversation. Asking the boy about his major, and why he picked it. Seungmin forced himself to not break into a smile or even chuckle every once in a while. The glow on Jeongin’s face while he was talking about his love for his current program, made it a hard task to do so. He had to admit it was the shortest 20 minutes in his life.

And surviving for more than 500 years contained a lot of maddening long minutes/hours.

Seungmin wanted to hear more from the kid, weirdly enough, he embraced the term ‘friends’ very easily. His intentions were pure, as asked the boy if they were friends. Not letting Jeongin respond, he ended the conversation with somewhat a threat, “You will be my friend or else I’m gonna chuck you into the garbage shoot.” He had to admit he panicked just a little bit when Jeongin bit his lips, eyes turning glossy as the boy tried to hold back his tears. Seungmin swore he would kill everyone in the room, including himself, if they ever hurt the boy. And in Chan’s case… he would probably eliminate South Korea’s whole population.

“You have my number right?” Fixing his wrinkled sweater, Seungmin stands up picking up his backpack in the process. “Text me when you’re done. Let’s get lunch outside.” and with that he exited the room, not after giving the boy a soft pat in the head. He knew the consequences of his actions, but he couldn’t help himself. “A little brother huh?” the sun shined through the windows, his eyes momentarily blinded by it. Seungmin shielded his face with his hand, a familiar insignia on his finger came to view. He smiled, running his thumb over the black ink. “Is this how it felt to have a family, Master?”

-

Wasting no time, Jeongin’s classmates circled his desk. Throwing questions at him like there’s no tomorrow. He was overwhelmed by the amount of attention, but he was mindful of their intentions. Jeongin meekly smiled, answering only with the right words. The words ‘He’s my friend’ felt like an alien language to him, but weirdly enough it rolled naturally from his tongue. But the queries from his curious classmates grew a bit personal. Some of them asking if Seungmin was the boy’s boyfriend.

Jeongin was thankful for the heavens when the professor walks in 5 minutes after. He pushed back all his thoughts and decided to focus on the lecture. Smiling slightly when he remembered the witch’s words before he left.

Students scrambled to their feet as they speed off towards their respective classes. But with the irregular schedules of a university student, some of them enjoyed their free time. Seungmin walked passed by a group of students, all of them bowing their heads in respect for the ‘President’. He bowed in return, not forgetting about his attitude as someone in the higher ups. It was a pain in the ass he grew accustomed to. And he had a way to avoid them. The campus may be huge but Seungmin knows the path where he would encounter less students. Typical.

The Student council has their own 2-storey building near the faculty building. He pushed the door open, tapping his I.D. on one of the turnstiles provided. It was an open space on the first floor. A small reception desk was located beside the turnstiles and beyond that were a variety of desks.

Seungmin greeted some of the officers who are working. “Updates?” he listened attentively to some reports from the team. The office has been chaotic for the past 2 weeks. The event for next month was near and they had to prepare for it. After the brief presentations, one of them approached Seungmin and handed a paper for him to sign. They don’t really have any assigned tables or desks for each officer so, they can freely choose where to sit. Although, everyone within the council knows the president favorite spot. Seungmin didn’t claim it but, he eventually noticed the lack of officers who attempted to sit there.  
Seungmin sat down, fishing out a pen from the neatly arranged table. He began to read the paper thoroughly. When he understood the contents, and deemed them as okay to sign, he handed it back to the officer. Giving him a few pointers before he twirled his chair and skimmed through the finish paperwork neatly piled on his desk.

Abruptly, his back suddenly went stiff, hands coming to a halt. ‘This presence’. He stayed seated but turned his head towards the entrance. A familiar face approaching him, hands inside his pockets. Blazing red hair that seems to be too ‘natural looking’. Piercing brown eyes vanished through half crescent lids when he smiled at one of the students. The small ‘Representative’ badge on his left chest reflected the light outside. A few officers greeted him, asking for updates. Seungmin turned his head back to his desktop monitor, inputting his password.

“I still can’t believe you’re the Department of Fine Arts representative. Agreeably, you’re really good at your job.” - officer

Seungmin scoffed. That guy is really deceiving. After a brief moment, he descended up the stairs, mindful of the presence following him.

“Kazuo. How’s your father?” he turned to see the guy plopped onto one of the bean bags, munching on the snacks provided. The second floor was made into a place where they can either work or relax. There are places where you can doze off and places where you can relax and work. Shelves of books are given. And also, an arcade room was separated by a glass wall.

“Unfortunately, the old man’s still breathing.” Seungmin chuckled, how is that unfortunate? Ah, right. Kazuo’s father.

Seungmin knew his father, well not personally but he has heard of him. His father was an old man, minding a small candy shop in Japan. Kazuo shifted awkwardly from his seat, earning a glance from Seungmin. “It’s weird to hear you laugh. What’s wrong with you?” the witch frowned. Was he really that conservative and cold from other people’s perspective? “Woah, I’m sorry man. Didn’t mean to make you upset. It’s just… weird.” the guy shrugged trying to find comfortable position on the sunken bean bag.

“It’s fine. When will you go back?” Kazuo pouted, throwing a chip towards the witch’s direction. Halfway through the air, it lit up in flames. Stopping right in front of the witch face, ashes dropping onto the carpeted floor. “Fucker, you already want me gone? I have a ‘job’. You know.” Seungmin scowled at the guy’s ‘quote and unquote’ gesture. He turned to his heel, facing the all glass wall behind him. His eyes scanned through the vicinity of the campus. He heard shuffling behind him, and soon enough Kazuo stood beside him, sucking on a lollipop.

The expanse of the green grass covered the ground. Seungmin sighed, soon enough it would be covered by oceans of white snow. And those distant figures walking through different paths, will all be shivering underneath their thick padded coats. To be honest, it was an ordinary everyday sight for Seungmin. The weather taking a sudden turn was no stranger to him. But he just couldn’t get why he was always mesmerized by it.

“You know..” he spared the guy beside him a glance. The sudden suffocating air around them didn’t go unnoticed. “You could easily take over this school if you liked.” the corners of his lips tugged upward forming into a smirk. Seungmin snickered and returned his gaze towards the view before him.

“You’re the best candidate for that, Kazuo of the 11 families.” Seungmin did not bother looking at the guy, who was walking towards the stairs. His last words, etched inside his mind.

“See you around, Merlin’s descendant.”

-

As soon as the professor’s back was turned, Jeongin darted towards the door. Avoiding all the unnecessary attention before the bell rings. The words ‘early dismissal’ were his cue. The always crowded halls, buzzed with voices. Students hailing from the Music Department, shuffling through. He pulled his sweater over his hands, suddenly aware of the cold weather.

“Seungmin? Walking with someone?”

“He didn’t just walk with him, he took him to his class and even stayed there before it started!” Jeongin’s fast paced steps slowly nimbled. “Wait, it was a guy? Were they friends? Seungmin has real friends?” his eyebrows furrowed. News already spread out like that? Ah, technology. And why would anyone talk about Seungmin like that, he was a nice guy. But upon dissecting their words, Jeongin wasn’t sure why he was surprised.

‘So it is true’ he thought. People only recognize you once you made a mistake. No matter how many achievements you did, they will only focus on your failures. Humans tend to drag down the person they are threatened with. It’s sickening.

Seungmin had a good reputation when it comes to running the council. He was amazing in his job. Seniors from all programs made him a laughing stock once he stepped behind the podium. Imagine, a first year Photography Major, running for Council President? Pathetic. He was clearly trying to get himself into some trouble. However, as soon as he spoke. Each word coming from his mouth, somehow put them into a trance. It was like they were put under a spell, his spell. Seungmin won. And this year, even though he wasn’t a candidate. He was, according to the witch, forced into the position again.

“Well, he seems close with Kazuo.” who was Kazuo? Jeongin bit his lip. Was he an acquaintance of Chan too? Jeongin shook his head and lightly slapped his right cheek. Fishing out his phone from his pocket, he easily found Seungmin’s number among the small amount of contacts he had. He typed in a message, sliding the phone back in his pocket after he pressed send. Jeongin scurried towards the main gate, rubbing his hands to achieve some sort of warmth.

“Jeongin.” he lifted his head up and saw Seungmin. The witch approached him, Jeongin gave him a smile before they turned and walked out the gates. “How was class?” Jeongin fidgeted, earning a curious glance from Seungmin. “What’s wrong?” the boy stopped in his tracks. Running his fingers through his hair before it gripped the straps of his backpack. Jeongin hesitated, but he knows Seungmin probably heard about it.

Soon enough, they sat in front of each other in a restaurant. After the lady bowed, placing their orders in front of them, Jeongin broke the ice. He told the issue to Seungmin, who as he predicted, knew about it. The witch told the boy to ignore them, but upon consideration he offered a proposal. “How about we don’t interact in school, if that’s what makes you comfortable.” Jeongin has never said disagreed so fast in his life. Pretending not know each other was the last resort, and he was not that desperate to do that. “It’s fine, Hyung! It will die down soon enough.” Seungmin just nodded, but he was still bothered by it.

They finished lunch, Jeongin apologizing to Seungmin because he got held up by him. “How about a hug then?” before Jeongin could react, Seungmin pulls him into a hug. Letting go quickly. The witch turned to his heel and waved with his back facing the boy. Jeongin smiled, he stood there gazing at Seungmin’s diminishing figure.

“Mom! Dad!” Jeongin set down his backpack on the coach. Roaming his eyes around the living room. He called out once more for his brother but to no luck, he was alone. The empty house was a rare sight. His brother would usually be screaming across the halls, while his dad watches TV and his mom was at the kitchen.

A few moments later, he received a call from his mom. Telling him they were at his grandparents house, she left some food in the fridge and if he wanted take out, there was money on his desk. Jeongin let out an exasperated sigh when his mom didn’t stop worrying about him. Jeongin knew even his dad won’t be able to help him. But… he had one idea to make her stop. “Mom, I’ll be fine. I’ll just sleepover again at Chan hyun—” the plan worked. He pulled away his phone from his ear when his mom shouted ‘YES DO THAT SWEETIE, LOVE U BYE’ she ended the call even before he could say he loves her back. Jeongin stared at his phone in astonishment. His own mother has abandoned him for the sake of him having friends. Jeongin sighed and shook his head.

Closing the door behind him, he stood at the entrance tucking a few strands of hair into the beret hat he put on. Jeongin was satisfied with his current outfit change, it wasn’t that cold yet, but a simple hat and warm coat made a difference. After checking his appearance on his phone, he started heading out. Seoul’s atmosphere at night was Jeongin’s favorite, especially in summer where it’s blazing hot during the day. His feet navigated him to a familiar place. The lack of light coming from Chan’s Antique shop didn’t shock him. Jeongin got home late. He only had one class but he tends to wait for the students lurking around the music studios to leave so that he can use them by himself. Seungmin was right. Jeongin was a shy boy. He knows how to play the piano and is a really good singer. But his talent won’t be noticed if he lacked confidence. And that was really his case.

Nothing went wrong when he grew up. Jeongin had a great family, everyone was supportive of him. Although he went through grade school to high school without friends to keep, he wasn’t bullied by anyone. Jeongin was just plain invisible to them. “Chan hyung?” before his closed fist could tap the glass, Chan materialize behind it. I guess, Jeongin getting used to people appearing out of nowhere was a lie. He stumbled back a few steps before regaining himself. Chan unlocked the door apologizing as he ushered him in.

No words were exchanged as they, out of instinct, walked towards the table behind the counter. Finding their usual spots. “Tea?” Jeongin shook his head, motioning Chan to sit down. Jeongin took his time to roam his eyes around the familiar shop. Oddly enough, this place felt like home. It was also sort of like a job to him, although Chan didn’t pay him. His eyes landed on the floor, a sudden flash of the past incident flickered in front of him. A small smile creeping on his face. Jeongin was kinda thankful for making that mistake, even though he almost got killed. It was a rickety bridge that led him towards Chan and the rest of the boys. “So,” his eyes moved back to Chan. Jeongin just noticed Chan’s hair was styled, his curly locks remained but it was neatly parted on one side, a few strands falling into his forehead. Surprisingly, he also had makeup on. A sultry smokey eye made his soft eyes look more prominent. He was also wearing a black leather jacket over a dirty white hoodie. Lastly, his gaze fell onto Chan’s lips. Jeongin was always so curious of how plump and soft looking the vampire’s lips are. “What brings you here at this hour? It’s dangerous outside.”

“By the way, I’m going home to the puppies tonight.” Jeongin briefly reflected Chan’s words. Puppies? Oh, the werewolves. That’s such a cute endearment. However, that wasn’t the issue here. Jeongin had planned to sleep over here since it’s close to his house. “O-oh. Okay, sorry for the hold up.”

“It’s okay, kid.” Jeongin stayed quiet. Chan itched to ask him what was wrong. Jeongin followed his eyes to Chan as he lifted up his seat and slowly settled in beside him. He was not overwhelmingly close but Jeongin was still flustered, he can feel his ears heat up. Ah, it was a wrong choice to wear that beret hat because his ears were exposed. “You didn’t answer my question. What brings you here, Jeongin?”

Chan had to confess, he was flustered by the boy suddenly appearing at this time of the night. He wanted to scold him for walking in the dark, it was not safe. Especially now that Jeongin is his bond mate. But his adorable appearance make up for it. For the 2 weeks Jeongin has visited/worked at his shop, he never saw the boy wear a hat. Especially a beret, Chan took his time on taking it all in. He never noticed it before but., Jeongin’s facial features were so chiseled for a 17 year old. The vampire also notice how the boy looked very different whenever he has blank face, contrary to his always smiling face. Chan had to admit, Jeongin was really adorable. Hyunjin always giggle out of nowhere and when Changbin asks him why he laughed, Hyunjin would reply ‘Jeongin is really cute, I want to put him in my pocket and protect him.’ Surprisingly, the whole pack agrees. Woojin who has a soft spot for cute things continued to gush over the boy with Hyunjin. And when Jisung mentioned something about Jeongin removing his braces, the mansion was left in utter chaos.

“Well, my family’s not home. And I kinda told mom I’m sleeping over.” Chan was surprised. Jeongin wanted to sleepover at his place? He can’t help but stifle a chuckle. He offered that they sleep at the mansion. Woojin and the rest of the pack would be so happy. Eventually, Jeongin accepted the offer upon seeing the pout on Chan’s lips. It was weird, but he was not complaining.

As they step outside, Chan approaches him with a helmet on his hand. “Safety first, sweetie.” Jeongin blushed at the pet name. His face grew redder when Chan’s hand grazed his ears as removed his hat, replacing it with the helmet. “Stop staring..” Chan chuckled at the boy’s whines. He hands him his hat back, proceeding to start up his bike. ‘That bike’ Jeongin thought. He always admired it for a minute or two every time he goes to the shop. He constantly imagined Chan riding that bike, how cool he would look. Chan wore his helmet, flicking his head to his right to tell the boy to hop on.

Jeongin flailed his arms around, finding a place to hold on. His panicked eyes followed Chan’s large hands gripping each of his wrists. Chan guided the boys arms around his waist, forcing his fingers to interlock with each other. “Hold on.” Jeongin was a crimson red as they sped off, Seoul’s cold night breeze was chilly but, ‘Chan hyung is warm’. Was he supposed to be warm? According to Jeongin’s very ‘extensive’ research which involves his face buried in front of his laptop’s monitor at 5am in a school day—Vampires aren’t supposed to be warm. Their bodies are dead. The flask on the desk earlier might have answered his question. Chan might be warm because he just drank some blood.

Not long enough, they arrive in front of the mansion. Jeongin squinted his eyes, making out the figure who was… running towards them? “H-Hyunjin hyung! Let me down please!” Chan watched how Hyunjin lifted the boy up from his seat and carried the boy like a sack, sprinting towards the mansion. Chan didn’t even turn off his engine yet. He shook his head in disbelief. “Wait a goddamn second, Hwang.” Changbin gripped Hyunjin’s shirt, halting him. He circled the boy and carefully removed Jeongin’s helmet. Tossing it back to Chan who was walking up to them. “Okay go, you dingus.” and with that, Hyunjin disappeared inside.

Jeongin’s voice boomed inside the house, “WAIT WHAT THE FUCK. HOW THE FUCK DID I GET IN?” the four of them looked at each other with wide eyes, breaking into a fit of laughter. “Can’t believe that kid can curse like that.”

Jeongin was still confused on why he easily went in. He was sure Woojin did not invite him because he was also outside. The answer to his question was given by a not-even-huffing Hyunjin, telling him that once he’s invited to that house, he can freely access it in the future, but if that person doesn’t visit for quite a while or the owner either changes or cancels the invitation he cannot enter the house. He bounced on Hyunjin’s shoulder, still mind fucked. “Innie’s here???” a familiar voice came from the stairs. Hyunjin carefully placed Jeongin on the couch, attaching himself to the boy right away. Jeongin’s eyes traveled to the source of the voice. “Felix hyung! Minho hyung!” Felix and Minho descended down the stairs. The fox scurried towards the boy, engulfing him into a tight hug and at the same time squishing Hyunjin between them. Minho silently trailed behind Felix, giving Jeongin a smile and a pat in the head before heading towards the kitchen.

Felix and Minho moved in with Chan and the werewolves yesterday. Originally, only Felix wanted to move in. But Minho was acting like a bitch, saying he’s alone at the apartment and that Felix abandoned him. So, they both end up moving together with the rest of the pack. “Why are you guys here?” Hyunjin shoved Felix off them, sitting up while trying to catch his breath. Felix chuckled and apologized, sitting beside Jeongin telling him they moved in with Chan. Jeongin was ecstatic, the 2 days he spent with them were memorable. And now that they’re here together, they can make more memories!

Woojin trailed behind Jisung and Changbin, Chan was behind him the whole time. He stopped and looked back, waiting for the vampire to discard the helmets he was holding. Chan settled them on the cabinet near the entrance, removing his shoes right after. “Is Jeongin gonna stay the night?” Chan hummed in response, nodding his head as they walked towards the living room. He shrugged his jacket off his shoulders, tossing it to the coat rack 3 meters away from him. It flew in the air with great speed, halting in before the coat rack. It hung itself like someone did it. Woojin shakes head before following Chan. He stopped midway, admiring the view. Jeongin was crimson red as Hyunjin and Felix praise him about looking so cute in a beret hat. Minho was plopped beside Jisung, immersed in their own world. Changbin popped out of the kitchen, handing Chan a glass of blood. Slowly, they all settled down the circled couch, laughing with each other.

Woojin can’t help but smile. It used to be just the 5 of them—Jisung, Changbin, Hyunjin, Chan and himself. They had a lot of fun, but Chan was rather a non-chaotic person, he didn’t mind the noise but he rarely joins in. He himself, on the other hand was no far from Chan. He’s just smiling on one side, laughing when the puppies make a joke. Who would have thought that they would grow this big? 9 of them talking and laughing with each other, just having a good time without caring for anything else. Including that witch, Woojin was a bit cautious of him at first. He seemed to be a bit cold and strict. But after he helped them find Jisung, he slowly opened up his heart to the witch. “Seungmin may act like that, but.. He’s a good person.” the sincerity inside Chan’s eyes removed all Woojin’s doubts.

Speaking of the devil. Seungmin appeared in a blink of an eye in the middle of the living room, causing Felix and Jisung to stumble behind the couch as they were headed to the kitchen to get some snacks. Seungmin declared that he is Jeongin’s officially best friend, threatening the rest of the boys if they ever hurt the boy. Soon enough, Seungmin settled in. Sitting in front of Chan as they play one on one in UNO.

Woojin stood in the distance the whole time. Taking it all in. Woojin clenched his fists. The thought of one of them getting harmed lit up a fire inside his heart. Before he pranced towards the chaos, his voice echoed inside the rest of the wolves heads, all them simultaneously looking at Woojin’s direction, nodding their heads to his request.

“Protect them. At all costs.”


	6. Awaken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (note: everything will be a bit fast-paced from now on, i’m adjusting my writing style a bit so that it’s not boring to read. I’m adding more dialogue now.)

“That’s mine!”

“Nu-uh! I got here first!”

“B-but, Minho! I saved that for later!”

Chan has gotten used to this setting. If you weren’t from that household, you might’ve thought they’re bickering over something serious. “What are they doing?” Chan sighed, glancing over Jeongin who was busy braiding Felix’s hair. His hands stop fumbling the fox’s soft locks as his head whipped over the kitchen. “Fighting over the last pop tart… again.” Changbin stood up after answering Jeongin’s question. He made his way towards the chaos. “Hyunjin, Jisung, Minho… not this again.” he sprinted towards the 3 of them. Changbin snatched the pop tart from Jisung’s hand, earning a fit of whines and groans from the struggling trio.

“I’m going shopping tomorrow. I’ll buy a box for each of you, just please shut the fuck up.” Changbin walked back towards the living room, plopping beside Jeongin. Jeongin’s eyes danced all of over the room, confused of what just happened. The cause of the ruckus headed towards the living room also. Hyunjin drops to the floor laying his head onto Felix’s lap, a pout evident on the wolf’s face. Meanwhile Jisung and Minho sat beside each other on the other edge of the sofa where Jeongin was sitting at.

The two of them suddenly became ‘close’ with each other. Although most of the times, little to none words were exchange between them, weirdly enough they were inseparable. Woojin was the first to notice. Except for the pack and Chan, none of them have know each other for quite some time. Chan eyed Minho and Jisung cautiously, Minho wasn’t the type of person to get close to someone else suddenly. He was the exact opposite.

Minho was a bit of an outcast, aside from Chan and Felix, he doesn’t have any other acquaintances. Chan even came up with the idea that Minho pursued him from Japan to Korea, because the God was lonely. His massive shrine may be filled with gifts and offerings but by the end of the day, he was alone. That hypothesis alone was petty, according to Chan. Minho could easily fall in with other ‘antic’ beings. However, when Chan asked him about it when he waited for Minho to finish his busking session near Myeongdong, his answer: “I just didn’t feel like it.” vague.

“Want the last pop tart, kid?” the boy gasped so cutely even Satan would’ve cooed. Jeongin wearily eyed the ones who were fighting over it just a minute ago. Absolutely no one would refuse to give it to him. Getting the approval he needs, he lifts up his hand, ready to accept the treat. But, Changbin shakes his head. Motioning the boy to open his mouth, Jeongin complied biting off a small chunk. He held Changbin’s wrist and the wolf automatically lets go. The boy stands up, carefully nudging away Felix. “J-Jeongin..” Hyunjin was at loss for words. Minho and Jisung were also flustered and almost teary-eyed when Jeongin offered them the rest of the treat.

The scene alone made everyone smile. What an innocent boy he is. “Oh–” Seungmin disappears into thin air, reappearing after 10 seconds with handful of paper bags. He lifts up the contents, shaking them a little. “Jeongin’s mom asked me to bring these.” as the room bursted into cheers, Seungmin headed towards the kitchen. Jeongin ambling behind him, showering him with questions. “Mom sent these? I thought she was at grandma’s? And why were you at my place?” the rest of the group started preparing the table, utensils and side dishes were laid out in an instant. Seungmin answered all the boy’s question while he takes each of the dishes from the paper bags. His mom had called Seungmin “Mom has your number?!” the witch told him his mom gave him her contact details when he walked the boy home the day after their sleepover. Continuing the story, Jeongin’s mom told Seungmin over the phone that she went to get something at their home and decided to cook a little meal for the 9 of them. Jeongin eventually grasped the idea, not waiting a second on offering the witch a helping hand. And oh, it was totally not just ‘a little meal’.

“Jeongin, I’m telling you~ you will love your room! I personally decorated it for you.” the boy sheepishly nodded his head for the 5th time that night. As soon as he showed up at the mansion, Woojin has been bragging about ‘his’ room.

Has it not occurred to the alpha that he only stayed over for ONE night and he suddenly gets his own queen sized bedroom? Not that he had a choice. All of the rooms in that massive mansion were either queen sized or king sized. Even the bathrooms are outrageous. Jeongin can’t help but feel embarrassed. However, he was also grateful for all of them. Being accepted like family felt overwhelmingly awesome. As soon as dinner was finished, Woojin pushed him off his seat, grasping the boy’s hand tightly as they made their way upstairs. A smile was evident on the alpha’s face. “Ta-da!”

“This is all mine?” the boy carefully stepped inside, his eyes wandered around from the grey toned colored bed to the cream walls decorated with minimalist paintings and wall accents. As he looked back to Woojin, he was welcomed by his uncanny resemblance to ‘The Scream’ painting. “W-wait… this is not how it’s supposed to look like!” Woojin was pushed aside from the door frame while the rest of the boys flooded inside the room. Jeongin eventually joined in with the rest, admiring how the room looked while they found their spots. The bed shifted at the weight of 4 people—Jeongin, Hyunjin, Chan and Minho. While Felix and Jisung settled on the sofa beside the bed, Changbin peered over the window, hands inside his pockets. Seungmin on the other hand remained near the door, observing the shock on the alpha’s face.

“Woojin. I changed it up a bit. Not all teens go through an emo phase. And I’m telling you, Jeongin is not one of them.” Changbin walks over to the small storage room near the bathroom and begins to pull out boxes of the previous decoration of the room. Hyunjin trails behind him and pulls out a My Chemical Romance poster from one of the boxes. “MCR? All Time Low? Linkin Park? You should’ve put these at Chan’s room.” Hyunjin let out a loud ‘ouch’ as he soothes the spot where Chan hit him with a slipper.

“Ha. Ha. I’m not emo, Hyunjin.”

“You’re emo, Chan.”

“Yeah. I saw your playlist before.”

“I hate you, Jisung, Seungmin.”

The room burst into laughter. Woojin closed the door behind him with a pout and walked over to the bed. “Thanks, Woojin.” the alpha smiles and wraps his arms around Jeongin. Not long enough before Minho pulls them on the bed.

-

 

At the break of dawn, Jeongin shuffles around the bed. Wandering his hand onto the bedside table. He momentarily squints his eyes from the sudden light emitting from his phone and slowly opens them up to check the time. 5am. He gets up and stretches his muscles for a few minutes, his eyes travelling around the unfamiliar room. “I should probably get used to this” he mumbled. Making up his bed before going downstairs. As he comes down the final step of the stairs, he sees Woojin and Chan chatting at the kitchen. Woojin was seated onto one of the dinner table chair while Chan was leaning against the kitchen counter holding a glass of what seems to be blood. They were immersed in a conversation. But Chan noticed the boy as soon as he wakes up, his mellow heartbeat was replaced by a resting one indicating that he was awake. “Jeongin, come here. Breakfast is almost done.” Woojin motions the boy towards them. Jeongin ambles towards the kitchen, half asleep. He crashed into Woojin’s arms, nuzzling his face onto the alpha’s chest. “G’morning hug..” Chan smiled at the boy’s words and actions.

“Channie also.” the vampire welcomes the boy into his arms. The warmth of the boy made him grin. But when he was about to tighten his grip, Jeongin pulls away. “Cold.” Chan’s dilated eyes followed the boy as he made his way back to the wolf, sticking to him like glue. “Hm.. better.” Woojin chuckles at Chan’s pout. He continues to caress the boy’s back. “Was Chan ice cold?” Jeongin nods against his chest, he could feel the vibrations from Woojin’s chuckle.

“Jeongin, I have to cook. We can cuddle after.” Jeongin slowly pushes away from Woojin, the lack of his warm demeanor made him frown. Woojin pats the boy’s head and turns toward the stove. Chan downs his glass of blood, sitting beside Jeongin. “We can cuddle if you like. I’m warm now because of the bloo-” loud thuds coming from the stairs made Chan shut up. Hyunjin pops out of the corner, running towards the kitchen. “Innie~ if you need warm hugs, Hyunjinnie is here~~”

Jeongin snapped out of his half awake state, nonetheless he took up the offer. Opening his arms in the air as Hyunjin approaches him. Chan was pushed aside as Jeongin koaled himself onto Hyunjin after that they headed towards the living room. “I can’t believe that asshole.” Woojin chuckles at Chan’s remarks. He walks towards the vampire and gave him a pat in the back. He then proceeded to set the table, Chan helping him almost instantly. “Judging from his appearance. Hyunjin probably woke up because he heard me say ‘cuddles’ to Jeongin.” Chan scoffs as he placed the last plate on the table. “That’s all it takes to wake him up? For fuck’s sake, Changbin gave up last month on ‘Waking up Hyunjin’ duty.” Woojin laughs.

“I HEARD THAT.” Chan flinches at Hyunjin’s voice but shakes his head right after, a grin creeping up in his face. A few minutes later, all nine of them are gathered round the dinner table.

Chan gaped at the scene in front of him.

“It’s the last piece! It’s mine because I’m special!”

“Yeah right. Pfft, special.”

Minho and Jisung were bickering over the last piece of toast.

“Faaaa”

“Soooooo”

“Oi mate! You didn’t hit the note!”

“Fuck off, lix.”

Felix and Changbin were having a low note battle to see who has the deepest voice. It’s an obvious win for Felix but Changbin was known on being competitive.

“Why don’t you move in with us too. We have plenty of room.”

“I’ll think about it, Woojin. I can’t leave my lab unattended.”

“You can move your lab here too! The basement is really spacious.”

“Oh, that’s an offer I can’t refuse. But, yeah okay. I’ll think about it.”

Woojin and Seungmin were immersed in their own communication. It’s like watching to ancient people talk. Mature.

Chan’s eyes lands to Hyunjin who was busy fiddling with his phone. “Hyunjin,”

“Hm?”

“No phones at the dinner table.”

“Wait, Chan. I’m trying to find that email for that energy drink thing. Skimmed it before I fucking forgot to mark it as important.” Chan frowns. “Check it after breakfast.” Hyunjin sighs, mumbling under his breath as he shoves his phone back into his pocket. Jeongin chuckles beside Chan. “He’s like a kid.”

They exchanged glances, Chan smiles at the boy. “Yeah, right?”

As they finish up breakfast, Hyunjin continues skimming through his phone. Catching Woojin’s attention when lets out a groan. “What’s up?” Hyunjin whines, letting himself fall onto the alpha’s lap. “I can’t find that email!!”

“The energy drink one? I have the details written down already.” Woojin tells him. Hyunjin beams at him, thankful for his actions. Woojin laughs. “I’m your manager. Remember?” the younger wolf nods. He tends to forget about having Woojin as a manager since he was a freelance model and mostly handles all his projects on his own.

“Wait, Hyunjin is a model?” Wide eyed, mouth agape. Jeongin asked.

“Wow. People hire you? Talk about bad taste.” Seungmin mocked. Hyunjin pouted throwing a pillow at the witch. “Bite me.” Seungmin just sticks his tongue out towards the wolf. “Yeah. He’s been a freelance model for about a year now.” Jeongin nodded at Woojin’s answer. Seungmin hums in thought. “You’re aware of the hunters within the entertainment industry, that’s why you didn’t choose to sign up under a management, correct?” he nailed down the reason behind Hyunjin’s work choice. Woojin nods in behalf of the wolf, giving the witch a smile.

“Wait. What are hunters?” Jeongin whipped his head around the room. Trying his best to meet eyes with any of them. His eyes automatically land on Woojin, which the latter answered. “The same ones who kidnapped Jisung.” Jeongin only nods his head, it was a very difficult topic to talk about. The awkward silence went on for 5 minutes before they returned to their normal chaotic business.

Jeongin heads upstairs a while later. It was 10am and he had class at 12pm. His university was a bit far from the mansion so he had to prepare and leave early. Seungmin also washes up, finishing a bit earlier than the boy. He walked in at the rest of the group talking about the boy. “You can’t let him live here.” they turned their heads towards Seungmin who was walking towards them. Chan knitted his eyebrows. “Why not? It’s for him to decide.”

“Chan.” Chan clicks his tongue, shutting up after Woojin’s warning. “I think someone in his family knows.” the rest suddenly straightened their postures. An eerie atmosphere creeps in as Seungmin crosses his arms, continuing his words. “I’m not sure who. But he/she knows who we are and where we are. Even you, Woojin.” as heads turn towards him, Woojin remained calm. His face was solemn and peaceful amidst the sudden interrogation. Seungmin’s eyes lingers at the alpha. He knew about the alpha’s past, Woojin told him. And he’s still wondering why he did. Woojin held his gaze also. His face may be calm but his terrifying presence exudes from his eyes. The witch couldn’t hold his gaze much longer, he turned his head away. He really is the alpha.

“How did you find out?” Jisung spoke up from beside Minho, everyone else was listening attentively. “Remember I dropped by Jeongin’s house last night,” all of them nodded. “There were spells within a 5 meter radius of his home.” Chan ran a hand through his hair. Who was it? Wait.. “Wasn’t yesterday your second time going to his house?” Chan questioned the witch. Seungmin nodded, interrupting Chan from his assumptions. “I didn’t find any spells during the first time, that person must’ve found out about us after I walked Jeongin home.” and again, the room was engulfed in silence. Seungmin sat down beside Chan, squeezing the vampire’s shoulder. “He’s not safe around us, Chan.” Seungmin couldn’t hide the concern behind his voice and gaze. Chan put a hand over Seungmin’s hand. Squeezing it tightly as he gave him a sad smile.

“Jeongin’s coming.” Hyunjin chirped. Seungmin moved his gaze back to Chan. His face was shrouded with worry and fear. The witch stands up, making everyone in the room look at him. “My class finishes at 5pm. I’ll head over to Woojin’s cafe. We can talk there.” He gave them a fleeting smile. He picks up his bag and waits for Jeongin outside. The boy comes out the corner, asking where the witch was. The room shifted into a more calm mood. “He’s waiting for you at the porch.” Jisung told the boy.

After multiple goodbyes and Hyunjin’s lingering hug, Jeongin waved at them once more before closing the door behind him.

The rest of them turns to Chan, he gave them a sad smile. “Let’s just hope he’s not one of the hunters.”


	7. Hunt

Hunt

Panic stricken Hyunjin was running around the house, he just found out the shoot was in 30 minutes and he hasn’t even taken a bath yet. “Woojin! You should’ve said something!” the said alpha sat on the couch, eyes following Hyunjin roaming around like a headless chicken and eventually disappearing into the stairs. “Sorry. I also forgot it was today.” Woojin finally stands up, walking to the back door that leads to the garage. Chan pokes his head from the kitchen, “Are you gonna drive him to the shoot?” Woojin nods, he really doesn’t have any choice. It’s also a way for him to apologize to Hyunjin. Taking the car keys from the table beside the door, he receded from Chan’s view.

Woojin bear down on the horn, he had already parked in front of the house. Hyunjin pops out the front door, with a duffel bag and a backpack. He knocks on the trunk, Woojin opens it up for him. Hyunjin shoves the contents in his arms before rushing towards the shotgun seat. “Fix your hair.” and Hyunjin did, with a slight tinge of red on his cheeks. “Just go already.”

Chan closes the fridge and moves to the living room, switching the channel of the TV to the local news. “Um,” Chan removes his gaze from the screen and sees Changbin walking towards him, Felix trailing behind him. “Why was Hyunjin losing his shit upstairs?” Chan scooted over, making room for the two. “Late for his shoot.” But Changbin puts up his hand and shakes his head, refusing Chan’s offer. “We’re heading out for grocery shopping. Wanna come?” the vampire stared at him for a few seconds, deliberating in his head if he would go. Chan would usually refuse to do such task because Hyunjin and Jisung ALWAYS fight over the trolley every time they went shopping. But this time it was just Changbin. He could deal with Felix’s bullshit so he stands up, pressing the off button on the TV remote. He follows the two outside. “We can take the SUV.” Changbin does an ‘OK’ sign with his hand and walks out the back door, Chan and Felix trailing behind him. He proceeded to press the button near the garage door to stop it from closing. “Woojin took the sedan?” Chan scanned his eyes around, nodding his head at Changbin. He then made his way around multiple cars lined up, stopping beside the BMW X6 M. “Chan, catch.” he turns right in time to catch the keys Felix flung to him. Slightly impressed because Felix knew the right key. The fox grins at him. “You already know your way around the house, you sly fox.”

Chan fastened his seat belt, “All set?” Changbin clicks his seat belt securely, holding up a thumbs up to Chan through the rear-view mirror. He glances at Felix before pulling out the garage when the fox nodded at him. “Hwang Hyunjin is late yet again.” Changbin snickers and looks out the window, they wobble a bit when Chan pulls out to the road. Chan smiles at the wolf’s remarks. “Is Hyunjin always tardy?” Felix blinked multiple times, looking at Changbin at the backseat through the rear-view mirror. “Yeah. He couldn’t keep track of his schedule. Always gets lost. Is very hard to wake up. Always giggling and cuddling. Ugh.” Felix and Chan look at each other before chuckling. Changbin’s snarky remarks towards Hyunjin kept them entertained the whole ride.

-

“Wait,” Hyunjin sits up straight from the shotgun seat, planting his face on the window. “Isn’t this Seungmin and Jeongin’s university?” Woojin hums, maneuvering the vehicle through the gate. He doesn’t answer Hyunjin’s question until they had parked. “Yeah, it is.” Hyunjin glares at him for the late response. The alpha chuckles and proceeds on opening the trunk, he pulls out a duffel bag, handing the backpack to Hyunjin. “How did you not recognize what their school was? Didn’t you say you wrote the details yourself?” Hyunjin trailed beside Woojin, both of them scanning their eyes around the grounds. “Well, I did. But, it was before we met them.” Hyunjin grins in defeat.

“Should we try to attend University too?” the small wolf nudges the alpha’s left arm. Woojin smiles at him. “Maybe you guys should. I’m too old for this.” both of them snorted. They made out the staff for the shoot in the middle of the field. One of them spots Hyunjin and waves at their direction. Hyunjin jogs towards them.

“Sorry I’m late, director!” Hyunjin huffs out, pretending to be in a ‘rush’. Woojin trails behind him and bows at the director, apologizing for their tardiness. “It’s alright, Hwang Hyunjin. Let’s get you prepared. MAKE UP!” Hyunjin hands over his backpack to Woojin, both of them went inside the trailer provided for the model. Hyunjin sits down in front of the vanity table, checking his appearance at the mirror. He already knows the drill.

Woojin sits on the far end of the trailer, Hyunjin whines, motioning the older to sit beside him. Woojin rolls his eyes. “This is why I don’t like to accompany you to shoots.” one of the staff pulls a chair for him near Hyunjin. He thanks the staff and sits down, eyes locked onto Hyunjin’s reflection on the mirror. “Can we go see those kids after the shoot?”

Woojin hums, fishing his phone from his pocket to check on Jeongin and Seungmin’s class schedule. He personally asked them to give him their schedules. Jeongin had no hesitation when he typed it down on Woojin’s phone, but Seungmin was hard to persuade. The witch was clever, he asked about Woojin’s past in exchange for the schedule. It was an unfair bargain, really. But he was intrigued by Seungmin. So he played along. “We could. But Jeongin has class until 9 PM.” Hyunjin pouts, the stylist breaks into a smile. Hyunjin pouts more, making the rest of them laugh. Woojin shakes his head ‘such a child’. The wolf glares at him. Woojin forgot they were all connected through their heads. He grins. “Love you, Jinnie”

“Hmp.”

Out in the field. The director explains the first take while the staff double checks the equipment. Hyunjin has to dance at the field, while the camera does a 360 around him. After the stylist finished on fixing his hair, Hyunjin practices one of his the routines beforehand. He was used to dancing on the spot, but free styling right now isn’t the best choice. Hyunjin struggles a bit with choosing a routine.

The director apologizes for asking him do such a task, they forgot to add the further details of the shoot on the email. But, Hyunjin gives them a warm smile telling them it was okay. After a while, he settles with the easiest one he has.  
“Okay! Take one!” and with that, the shoot continues on.

Woojin on the other hand, went back inside the trailer. Hyunjin gave him approval that he was okay and he can manage. He hesitantly walked towards the dressing room, plopping on the sofa provided. “So,” the alpha looks up from his phone. He sees the stylists and staff gathered around him. He gives them a soft smile, making most of them blush. “Yes?”

“You’re Hwang Hyunjin’s manager, right?” Woojin nods. He leans over, placing his elbows above his knees. He looks up to them through his lashes. “Yes. I guess you could call me that.” he lets out a deep chuckle. He found the staff’s actions quite hilarious, but he also laughed because he knew his effect on them.

The staff swooned over the man in front of them. His dark hair perfectly falling over his forehead, his monolid eyes burning holes on their faces, his tall nose was decorated by a small yet eye catching mole, and lastly, his pink lips that goes well with his protruding front teeth. They could agree he was also model material. Especially with his well-built physique.

“O-oh. Yes. Um.. why doesn’t Hyunjin sign under a management? I bet he had tons of offers before. He’s really good-looking.” the makeup artist blushed, she was up close and personal with Hyunjin. She was even surprised he had zero makeup on. His skin was so plump and soft. He had God-like visual even without makeup.

Ah, another victim of Hwang Hyunjin’s good looks. If they only knew how much of a soft boy Hyunjin is...

Woojin hums before finding the right words to answer them. “Well. He’s thinking of going to University soon, and I think he doesn’t want any other distractions. So a commitment with a management wouldn’t be such a great idea.” the staff nods at this remarks. So, Hyunjin is still that young? Wow. They thanked him and asked if he wanted anything to drink or eat, which the alpha politely declined. They disperse and Woojin was left alone.

“Take a break!” Hyunjin sprints towards the trailer, Woojin was busy fiddling with his phone to take notice of the wolf, not ‘visibly’ wagging his tail in front of him. “Woojin. Let’s go to Seungmin! His office is that glass building across the field~ please~!” Woojin gets up from his seat. He tells the staff where they are headed. A few people from the school who were helping out with the shoot, offered to accompany them but Hyunjin was already sprinting across the field. Woojin sighs and shakes his head, slightly bowing to the students. “Sorry about that idiot.” he turns his back and jogs after the small wolf.

Hyunjin pushes the glass door. Eyes littering around the office. He spins around, taking in every detail. This was the Student Council Office? This place is so classy. His feet came to a halt upon hearing someone clearing their throat. “What are you doing here, Hwang Hyunjin?” the witch stood behind him, arms crossed. His face was far from being amused. Hyunjin turns around, grinning widely at the witch. “Hello~ Seungs~ I came to visit!”

“Fucking wolf, how are you so goddamn strong.”

Woojin arrives a second late. He sees Hyunjin ‘strangling’ Seungmin.

“Jin. Let go of Seungmin, come on.” the wolf pouts. Removing his arm around the witch’s neck. Seungmin fixes his shirt, completely ignoring the annoying wolf in front of him. “Woojin.” Woojin gives the witch his toothy smile. “Hey, Seungmin. Sorry about this dingus.” he walks past Hyunjin, giving Seungmin a brief hug. They turn their backs on the beta.

“W-wait! What about me?” Hyunjin whines as Seungmin sends him a death glare. Nonetheless, the witch motioned him to follow them. Seungmin swore he imagined the wolf wagging his tail in excitement. Now that image will be stuck in his head for God knows how long. “Let’s head upstairs.” the three of them moved to the 2nd floor. All of the heads turning, following their figures until they vanished at the stairs. The president having guests over? And they were not from the University either? How surprising.

Hyunjin caught most of their attention. He was dressed up and looked stunning. The officers were literally drooling over him, well, the girls mostly. Hyunjin glances at them, making a few of them blush. Woojin knew the wolf was clueless about his effect on the students. ‘Woojin, why are they looking?’

But knowing Hyunjin, he would definitely be a blushing mess if he tells him the real reason why they were looking. Well, technically there were 2 reasons, but yeah. You get the idea.

‘Well… You do know Seungmin only opened up to Chan and the rest of us.’ Hyunjin smirks. Unaware of his action that created a fatal blow on the students’ hearts, Hyunjin started teasing the witch walking in front of him.

“Seems like someone doesn’t have frien… OUCH!” Hyunjin glared, picking up the pillow that was thrown at him. He slumped down on the sofa, nuzzling his head against the thick blanket on the edge of the seat. “Hyunjin, you’re gonna ruin your clothes and hair plus your makeup.” the wolf whines propping himself op with his elbow. He settles to sit down, pulling the blanket over his lap. “So Seungs, how’s your work?”

“Don’t call me that, Giggles.”

“Hey! When did I become ‘Giggles’?”

“Oh come on, you giggle at everything.”

“Seungmin’s right. You do giggle a lot, Jinnie.”

“Fuck off. Both of you.”

The room went still. Woojin settled in front of Hyunjin. Crossing his arms as he leaned back. His eyes never left Seungmin’s back. The witch didn’t bother taking a seat, keeping his front facing the glass walls. “Never thought the shoot I approved weeks ago would have you as a model.” Hyunjin snickered, reaching his hand out towards the snacks on the table. “Can I have some of these, Seungs?”

“Yeah, help yourself. There are drinks in the fridge too.” Hyunjin grabs a whole pack of cookies. Shoving 2 pieces in his mouth before offering some to Woojin, which the alpha declined, a faint chuckle coming out of him. Hyunjin shrugs. He neared the mini fridge, he fishes out a can of soda. Chugging it down in one shot. “Seungmin, you never told me there was a barrier around the school. It’s pretty strong too, a high class wizard/witch could’ve done it. It didn’t cross my mind you were that stro--” Hyunjin stops halfway his peevish remark upon seeing the look on Seungmin’s face. The witch looks at the two wolves back and forth. A faintly quizzical look came into his incisive stare. “What are you talking about, Hwang? There is no such barrier around this institute.” Hyunjin shrugs, giving the witch a vague answer. He pulled out his phone, scanning the message that alerted him. “It’s the staff.” he gives Woojin a look. “They want us back.” the alpha nods, fixing his crumpled shirt as he stood up.

“Seungmin, are you sure about the barrier?” Woojin’s voice, with a tentative question in it, rested in air. The two wolves leave the premises, well… not after Hyunjin shoved the rest of the cookies inside his coat. The witch stood there, a faint tremor of amusement was on his lips. “There’s no such barrier.” his voice was almost like a whisper. Was there really a barrier?

-

A frigid touch of the hand yanked Jeongin out of his trance. “Yang Jeongin, the class ended 10 minutes ago. Are you alright?” the concerned look on the professor’s face made his eyes go wide in surprise. He abruptly stands up, whipping his head around the room. It was just him and the teacher. Jeongin scratches his head and bows at the teacher. “I’m sorry Ms. Yoo! I didn’t get enough sleep last night! I’m really sorry!” daydreaming about going on a trip with the pack really pulled him out of reality. He should’ve been more careful.

Ms. Yoo smiles, patting the boy on his shoulder. Jeongin looks up and gives her his biggest grin. He knew the effect of his braces wouldn’t work on his professor, unlike Hyunjin, but at least he could give it a try. “It’s okay, Jeongin. Do you have class after this?” they trail out the room. Jeongin slipping on his backpack as they walked down the hall. “My next class is at 6 PM.” she hums in response. Only their footsteps can be heard, there were little to none students walking around. Making the situation a bit awkward for Jeongin.

She was his ‘Introduction to Music’ professor. Ms. Yoo was known to be very lenient with her students, but she knows when to be strict. She’s the head of the Music Department Faculty. Jeongin had to admit he was really impressed when he found out about it. She was only 28 years old and she already achieved so much. Plus, she was very pretty.

“I’ve heard about Seungmin.” Jeongin panicked. He knew the rumors would get to the faculty. But he didn’t expect his teacher to bring it up so casually. “M-Ms! It’s not true! He’s just a f-friend, I swear!” she chuckles. “I know, Yang Jeongin.” the boy sighs in relief, bringing his two hands hands to cup his heated face. “Who would have thought you would stumble upon a witch?”

“Yeah, haha! I never expected him to be like that, Ms. Yoo. It was so sudd…” His words trailed off brokenly. Jeongin stood there bewildered, his wide eyes locked on his teacher’s back as she continued walking. “How did you know..” Ms. Yoo turns around, giving Jeongin a glance of extraordinary meaning. With a small smile, her eyes flashed yellow for a second. Bringing chills up on Jeongin’s spine. “I guess you could say, we go way back.”

Before Jeongin could grasp the situation, she disappears around the corner. The faint smell of her sandalwood scent wafted behind her. With a glassy stare of deprecating horror, Jeongin anchored himself with his hand on the wall. “What the hell happened?” he slid down to a squat, holding his trembling hands against his chest. It wasn’t news to him. He hangs out with a group of ‘supernatural beings’, but why was he so terror-stricken?

“Jeongin! Are you alright?!” his dilated pupils tried hard to focus on the person in front of him, the figure sat down meeting his eye level. “S...Seungmin.” the look on the boy’s face, a soft insidious plea. Seungmin’s lips formed into a thin line before he spoke, “What did you see?” eyes quivering, Jeongin tried his best to find the words. “N..not what. Who…” a cold breeze came upon them, as they sat in silence for about 5 minutes. Seungmin hoisted the boy up, “Let’s go to Hyunjin and Woojin, yeah?”  
A slight tinge of calmness settled on Jeongin’s spirit. He grasped Seungmin’s arm tight, “They’re here?”

“Oh yeah, Hyunjin’s photo shoot is here, at the field in outside.” Jeongin composed himself. The mention of wolves calmed him down quite a bit. They walked towards the field. Jeongin was awfully quiet, not that he’s not. But this time, Seungmin could feel the boy shaking under his touch. ‘Who did he see’ the witch thought. His mind wandering around to the possibility of someone threatening the boy. Was he really threatened? Jeongin couldn’t have reacted this way if he was not scared.

Was he/she the same person who put up those spells around Jeongin’s house? So it’s not from his family, but someone from school. Seungmin’s eyebrows furrowed, that’s strange. When he entered the boy’s house, he knew the spells were done inside. There’s no way it was someone from this university.

Seungmin stared at the boy. Not a good thing to say but, Jeongin has no friends. Not until he met the pack. He couldn’t have invited his classmates over, they were indifferent to him. Wait, maybe someone from the faculty? But why would a professor visit his house? As far as his research could tell, Jeongin had good grades and he doesn’t have attitude problems also. He drew near to a desperate resolve but he couldn’t find any.

Their footsteps led them to Hyunjin’s shoot. He was busy practicing his moves, but his nose could tell that Jeongin was near, he wanted to run to the boy but his work comes first. Woojin comes out the trailer, welcoming them. “Woojin!” regaining his full composure, Jeongin scurried to Woojin, engulfing him into a tight hug. The warmth of the alpha washed away his fears completely. He felt safe. “Hello there, Innie~ is your class done?”

“Yeah! Seungmin told me you guys were here.” Woojin’s eyes found Seungmin’s disheveled and distraught figure. No one else could tell otherwise, but Woojin knew something was bothering the witch. Woojin led the boy at the shoot. Hyunjin gives the staff a fleeting glance, asking them for a break. When they nod in approval, he attaches himself almost instantly to Jeongin. Which the boy reciprocated wholeheartedly.

Woojin walks back to Seungmin’s spot. Both of them stood there gazing at Hyunjin who was peppering the boy with so much love.

“What happened?” although in doubt, Seungmin told the alpha all his worries. Woojin stood there, nodding his head while listening intently to every detail the witch was saying. Once Seungmin came to a stop, Hyunjin was already doing his take. Jeongin stood at the side, admiring his fluid movement.

Jeongin didn’t know Hyunjin can dance. He didn’t know anything about the pack. Yeah, they haven’t known each other that long yet. It wasn’t even a week, but he felt disappointed. Not having a clue about the people who accepted him as a friend. Jeongin’s eyes faltered. His focus on Hyunjin doing his moves was taken away.

‘...we go way back.’ piercing yellow eyes flashed inside his head. He shivered. Ms. Yoo… out of all the people. Why his professor? How did he know who Seungmin was? Were they friends? No. Chan told him Seungmin had no ‘friends’. Then, was Ms. Yoo his enemy? Can she be trusted? Jeongin ran a hand through his locks, he was losing his mind.

Woojin’s eyes rested on the boy. The gloomy look on Jeongin’s face was telling him that he was still pretty much shaken by the events that occurred. Woojin breathed heavily.

“Can you clear up your schedule?” Seungmin nods, his knees almost gave up on Woojin’s serious tone. His first attempt to answer the alpha failed. So, he cleared his throat and tried his best not to stutter. “I’ll ask Jeongin to skip his night class.” Woojin turns back to Seungmin, giving him a soft smile. The witch jokingly scoffs, making Woojin laugh. Seungmin saw how the alpha’s laughter die down, his usual beaming face transitioned into haunting and horrible sense of obscurity.

“Let’s discuss this now.”

The witch swore he could the rumble behind the alpha’s voice.


	8. Home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oof---sorry for the delay! uni has been a bitch and i'm also down with a flu (but still going to my classes because i have too) hope you enjoy this update~~

Chapter 8

Home

“I thought you had class until 5pm, Seungs?” Hyunjin latches on his seatbelt, pulling on it a little to see if it was secure. He stares at Seungmin seated beside Woojin through the rearview mirror. But waited in vain when his question was not answered. Hyunjin huffed out air, throwing a fit. He got more pissed off when Seungmin answered when Woojin asked him. “Kim Seungmin, you asshole.”

“Thanks, Hwang Hyunjin, you dickhead.”

“Why I!” Hyunjin crossed his arms and puffed his cheeks. He looked out the window mumbling incoherent words underneath his breath. The car was filled with soft chuckles. “Your class got cancelled huh?” Seungmin shrugged at Woojin’s words, opting to reach out for the AUX Cord. Vague answer, again. “You can just use Bluetooth.” Seungmin nodded, connecting his phone to the car’s speakers.

“Whose shop are we gonna go to?”

“Relax, kid. It’s not Chan’s shop.” Jeongin glowed red in embarrassment from Woojin’s words. Seungmin gave the boy a careful appraising eye through the mirror. The lack of acquaintances affected Jeongin’s behavior while growing up, not in a negative way though. And being in a relationship was part of the question. He liked multiple people before, but gazing from afar was the only option he had. Jeongin didn’t even have enough courage to say hi to his classmates, what more if it was a confession?

“We’re going to my café!” Woojin enthusiastically answered.

“You have a café?!” Jeongin gasped. He looked at Hyunjin who scooted over to his side.

Hyunjin rested his head on Jeongin’s shoulder, at the same time letting his arms snake around the boy’s waist, filling in the space between them. Jeongin could feel the vibrations from Hyunjin’s voice as he spoke softly. “Yeah, their cheesecake is amazing.” his mouth watered. Jeongin loves sweets. “Jeongin, you’re drooling.”

He almost slapped himself as he tried to wipe of his saliva. But before he could react, Seungmin let out a howl of laughter. “Seungmin, what a meanie!” Hyunjin can’t help but giggle as he watches the boy in beside him, writhe in embarrassment. “And yes, I do have a café .” Hyunjin detached himself from Jeongin, looking out the window as cars drive past them. “We really need to know each other more.”

“No thanks, I don’t like opening up to idiots.”

“HEY!” Seungmin was joking, of course. But that didn’t stop Hyunjin from acting like a kid. Pouting and stomping his feet on the car floor. "But, that doesn’t sound so bad.” Seungmin’s voice trailed off vaguely. He focused his eyes on the road, obviously ignoring the searing stares from the others.

Seungmin held his breath in silence. He went from hot to cold, the 2 pair of eyes bearing holes on his skin, and the other one stealing constant glances. Seungmin flushed crimson as he adjusted his seat and cleared his throat. “Woojin,” Woojin hummed, glancing at the witch’s face before his eyes fell on his fidgeting fingers. Seungmin heaved a deep sigh, it was weird. He never felt nervous around anyone, however, after hearing about Woojin’s past… his heart asserted itself again, thunderously beating against his chest. “About the barrier…”

Woojin mused a little while in grave thought. His smile was linked with a sigh. “We’ll go over everything later, Seungmin. Don’t worry.” Seungmin murmured a vague acceptance. He wanted to brood over the matter immediately. But an air of uncanny familiarity hung over.

Noticing the sudden shift of mood, Hyunjin croaked “I thought you’re gonna drop some beats, Seungs.” even though the witch snickered, he can’t help but thank Hyunjin for saving his ass out there. “Yes, boss.” The muffled sounds of an electric guitar resonated within the car. Soon enough, Charlie Puth’s funky voice can be hear.

‘You’ve been runnin’ ‘round

Runnin’ ‘round, runnin’ ‘round

Throwing that dirt all on my name’

As they ventured further down the road, the chorus of the song neared. Someone was definitely whispering, no. He was singing. A soft sounding voice softly muttered the lyrics, getting every melody right. His voice was far from different with the singer, but it definitely had its own color. Woojin gingerly pressed on the breaks, the car came to a halt as the red light shined above them.“You sing, Innie?” Jeongin flinched, hastily covering his mouth, exchanging glances with Hyunjin, and Seungmin and Woojin, who was looking over their shoulders. “No need to be shy about it.”

“Yeah, Woojin is right! You sound amazing!”

“He’s a Music Major for a reason, you nitwit.”

Hyunjin ignored Seungmin’s snarky comment and looked at Jeongin eagerly, as if he was waiting for the boy to continue singing. Jeongin warily put his hand down, he gulped loudly. Woojin turns back to the wheel, tapping his fingers against the wheel. “Don’t pressure the kid, Jin.” Seungmin had to admit he also paused for a while to see if Jeongin would continue singing. He turned back to the front, the song ended and he waited for the next one to play. “Sorry, Jeongin.” Jeongin floundered. “It’s okay, Hyunjin! Well,”

“I can sing one song if you guys want.” Hyunjin beamed. “Hey, giggles. Your tail’s wagging so hard.” the wolf glared at Seungmin’s shoulder. But turned his attention back to Jeongin. “We’re not forcing you to do so, okay Jeongin?” Jeongin could hear the sincerity behind Woojin’s voice even though he was facing the road. He smiled. “I want to do it.”

Seungmin stopped his thumb from scrolling through his playlist. Woojin saw how the witch bit his lips, trying to to hold back a smile. Seungmin caught Woojin glancing at him, he cleared his throat “So what song would you like, Jeongin?” as the boy fell into thought, Seungmin can’t help but finally let a smile form, a frown coming up later when Woojin nudged his elbow, wiggling his thick brows.

Finally making up his mind, Jeongin mumbled the title. Soon enough, the melody started. It was awkward at first, he didn’t dare raising up the volume of his voice. But with Hyunjin’s encouragement, Jeongin took a deep breath. Letting his voice be heard within the confinements of the car.

Tell them I was happy

And my heart is broken

All my scars are open

Tell them what I hoped would be impossible,

Impossible

Impossible

Impossible

-

By the time they arrive at the café, Hyunjin was fast asleep on Jeongin’s lap. The wolf had been nodding his head out of drowsiness. Seungmin waited for him to bang his head on the car window, but Jeongin prevented it from happening. Pulling the wolf towards him, before the incident happened.

“Hyunjin, wake up.”

Woojin chuckled, pulling into the parking space in front of his café. “Jeongin, that puppy would not wake up with just that.” He turned the engine off, removing his seatbelt as he slides his upper body through the seat gap. Jeongin and Seungmin waited for his actions. They both expected him to tap Hyunjin’s face with just enough strength to wake him up. But they were caught off guard when Woojin leaned in more, reaching out his hand to Hyunjin’s… ear?

“AW AW AW AW!!!!” Seungmin let out a howl of laughter, wiping a few tears from the corner of his eyes. Jeongin, who was biting down his lower lip, trying his best to stiffle his laughter, felt a bit sorry for Hyunjin. He patted the wolf’s head, cooing him like a kid. “Woojin you jerk.” the alpha laughs, whispering a soft sorry as he kissed the wolf’s forehead. They emptied the car, Woojin made sure the doors were all locked before leading the rest inside the café.

Unlike Woojin’s awful taste of interior design. His shop was not half bad. It was aesthetically pleasing, to be honest.

The tiny café huddled among the huge city buildings. It had a simple vintage exterior, not so overly decorated so it was very warm and welcoming, especially in this winter weather. Just like the outside, the interior was warm and cheery, with bright lights and vintage photographs placed around the walls of the café. Delectable pastries are tidily placed on the transparent glass cabinet, lining up and waiting to be eaten. The strong bitter aroma of ground coffee beans drifted in the air, the scent almost soaking into your clothes.

The usual gentle murmur of voices could be heard above the harsh occasional stomach churning sound of the coffee machine. A good looking barista waved at their direction. Woojin walked passed the three of them, a warm smile evident on his face as he headed towards the counter. A guy with ghost-white skin circled the counter, giving Woojin a brief hug. His soft brown locks tousled a little as he rested his chin on Woojin’s shoulder. After pulling away, his soft voice can be heard and the little dimple that played at the corners of his mouth appeared when Woojin teased him, he was… breathtaking. His mellow eyes glanced over to their position, and again, the dimples made an appearance.

Woojin noticed, turning his head and signalling the three of them to approach him. “Jaehyun! Long time no see.” Hyunjin babbled, circling his arms around the older. “It’s been a while, Hyunjin.” Jaehyun replied, creeping his arms on the wolf’s back. Drawing back from the embrace, Jaehyun curiously looked at Seungmin and Jeongin. Woojin pulled the two on each of his sides. “This is Seungmin.” the witch nodded, eyes falling briefly on the guy’s outstretched hand. His eyes went back up to the guy’s face, a small smile forming on his lips as he reached out to shake it. “So, you’re a hand shaker. Interesting.” Seungmin was caught a bit off guard when Jaehyun chuckled, honestly speaking, he expected the guy to give him a weird look of disdain. But instead, the guy laughed, running his hand through his hair. “I’m really a hugger but, I think it would be weird to hug someone you just met. Ruins the idea of a great first impression.”

Woojin held off a chuckle. It looks like someone has met his match. “And this adorable little guy is Jeongin.” Jeongin shut his eyes, craning his neck a little bit as Woojin’s large, heavy hand ruffled his hair. He let out a whine and pouted, fixing up his tousled hair. A faint quizzical look came into Jaehyun’s eyes, scanning the boy up and down. Jeongin looked up as Woojin nudged his side, reminding the boy about what Jaehyun said. “He’s a hugger, Jeongin.” not quite getting the point, Jeongin stepped forward nuzzling his head onto Jaehyun’s chest. “It’s nice to meet you” The guy stiffened a bit as he felt warm hands snake around his back. Jaehyun couldn’t help but blush, wrapping his arms around the boy’s structure.

“Jeongin! Let’s sit there!” Jaehyun watched as Hyunjin pulled the boy away from his grasp, leading him and Seungmin towards the back end of the café. He can’t help but find the situation a bit irksome. Woojin threw a measuring eye at Jaehyun, who seemed to be utterly detached from life. “Jae.”

“Huh, what?” Woojin smiled, ah, another victim. “Can you give us,” Woojin paused, waiting for Hyunjin’s voice inside his head as he asks Seungmin and Jeongin what they want. “One hot chocolate, with extra whipped cream. 2 americanos, a café latte and 2 cheesecakes.” Jaehyun nodded his head, quite impressed of Woojin. How did he know about what the others wanted? It wasn’t his business so he went back to the counter, “Johnny. Order up.” A tall chiseled man with medium brown hair, a very prominent cupid’s bow and soft eyes appeared from the kitchen area. “Woojin, wassup man!” he ignored Jaehyun, making his way towards Woojin. “Hey, Johnny.” bro-fist was more of a Johnny style. Considering he grew up in the US. “Johnny, the orders!” the man frowned, glaring at Jaehyun before turning his eyes back to Woojin. “Catch ya later.”

Woojin proceeded to their seats. Pulling a chair beside Jeongin who was fiddling with his phone. The corners of Woojin’s lips rose as he, not intentionally, read the contents of the screen.

‘Channie, where are you?’

‘I’ll be bit late, Jeongin.’

‘Okay~’

Woojin shakes his head, this is gonna be harder than he thinks. His eyes danced around the café. Everything is familiar to him, well, even the distant stares coming from the female customers. He thought to himself again, maybe it was not such a good idea to bring the boys here. Jaehyun and Johnny bring enough clout to the shop. Hiring handsome full timers was a really really bad idea.

Hyunjin stood up from his seat, excusing himself as he heads towards the restroom. The number 1 person for being gullible. He doesn’t know his effect on the people around him. Which kinda makes him more attractive, more or less. Sometimes they have trouble walking around the city with that wolf. He gets scouted so much at the streets, Changbin starts grumbling about how they spend 90% of their time shaking off the scouts. Woojin leans back on his chair, fishing out his phone from his pocket. After sending a brief text to Changbin, he places it down on the table. A few seconds later, the screen lit up. Woojin leaned forward, reading the preview of the message.

“Changbin’s with Jisung and Felix. They’ll be here in 20 minutes.” the sound of plates being placed on the table made Woojin look up to the server. His bright pink hair, screams KPOP Idol. He was overwhelmingly handsome, he looks like he came straight out of a comic book. His face was a cheat. Was he new? “Hey, Boss! This our new guy, Taeyong. Jungwoo’s boyfriend.” Taeyong bowed his head, his big doe eyes nervously danced around the room, trying hard not to make eye contact with the owner. Johnny didn’t have to tell the boss about his relationship. “I-I’ll work hard, Sir!” Johnny cackled, patting Taeyong’s shoulder as he turned to walk back to the kitchen. Woojin gave him a warm smile, telling him to just call drop the formalities and call him by his name. Taeyong fervently nodded, bowing his head before heading back to the counter. Woojin eyed the new guy as he carries a few drinks towards a group of what seemed to be high school girls. All of them giggling and trying their best to make Taeyong stay a bit longer. Woojin drew his attention back to his friends when Hyunjin came back. “What took you so long?” Seungmin questioned. “Had to take selfies! My outfit looks great!” Seungmin sneered making Hyunjin hit his shoulder lightly.

Jeongin observed in silence, occasionally glancing at his phone to see if Chan had messaged him. Much to his dismay, Chan was probably busy. His eyes fluttered back up when Seungmin threw Hyunjin a question, “How did you become a model, Hwang?” Hyunjin fell into thought, running a hand through his hair as he delves into his memories. “I think, when I posted my OOTD on Instagram. A local shop sent me a DM, asking if I could model for them.” Hyunjin reached out for his phone, typing down the name of the shop, scrolling through their recent photos until he found his first ever photoshoot. “I grew bored of hanging out here at Woojin’s, coming with Changbin and Jisung at their workplace only consisted of me playing with my phone at the sofa of their studio, while they bury their faces onto the screen and paper. And, well, I wouldn’t say much about Chan. He’s an old guy. I usually just sleep at his room. So, I guess modeling was a nice opportunity, I asked Woojin first, he told me to give it a shot.” Hyunjin continued, handing his phone to Seungmin.

Jeongin craned his neck over to their side. Seungmin handed him the phone, giving Hyunjin a smug look. “You looked a bit awkward.” Hyunjin chuckled. “Yeah, it was my first time. The photographer was very understanding, the staff were also nice. They fed me and even gave me more than the price we agreed on.” a soft smile formed on Hyunjin’s lips as he reminisced about his past. “I promised them that they could call me up any time, if they needed a model. I left them my number and email.” Jeongin held his breath in admiring silence, returning Hyunjin’s phone to him. They really are good people. No wonder Chan befriended them. “So, yeah. They posted the photos on their page. Printed posters of me and glued them to the glass walls of their shop. Soon enough, I received a lot emails and calls. They said they wanted to collab with me. They wanted me to model for them. Most of them found me through that shop’s page. They messaged the owner and asked for my information. Kinda felt a bit mad because they released my contacts without notifying me, but I let it slide. Since they were a huge help to my impending modeling career.”

Hyunjin’s story ended with him shoving half the cheesecake down his throat. Seungmin reached out for his bag, rummaging for his wallet. “How much do we owe you? I’ll pay for Jeongin’s too.”

“Seungmin! It’s fine! I’ll pay for my own.”

“Stop, both of you. No need to pay. It’s my treat. Now, eat!” Seungmin was disappointed he backed down easily. Jeongin too. They nodded in silence, picking up their forks. Jeongin face lit up, he turned to Woojin with a mouthful of cake. “This is amazing!” Woojin smiled, relieved that everyone liked the food and drinks. “Woojin, are you ever behind the counter?” Seungmin asked, sipping on his drink. Woojin hummed in response, looking out the window for answers. “Hhe ushed touew.”

“Don’t bark with your mouth full, you stupid dog.” Hyunjin choked, glaring at Seungmin while Woojin stood up to get some water. “Seungmin, play nice.” Jeongin whispered. He knows Seungmin was just kidding and Hyunjin probably doesn’t give a damn. But still, it was offensive to say such stuff. Woojin sat back down, sliding the cup of water to Hyunjin. Seungmin looked at Jeongin dead in the eye, bringing up his fist. Jeongin sighed in defeat when Hyunjin, almost consciously, bumped his fist on Seungmin’s. He didn’t expect for those two to become close, they’re always bickering and hitting each other.

“So you used to?”

“You understood that?” Seungmin snorted. Giving Jeongin a thumbs up. “I’m fluent in idiot.” Hyunjin cackled, clearly forgetting the fact that Seungmin called him an idiot. Their high five echoed across the café, earning the attention of a few customers, a few tables away from them. Hyunjin covered his mouth with his hands, wide eyed. Woojin stood up and bowed at the direction of the customers. Hyunjin composed himself and walked towards their table. Bowing his head multiple times as he gives them an embarrassed smile. The girls swooned over the fine man in front of them. “He really has no idea?”

Woojin shook his head, eyes glancing at Hyunjin. “None at all.” Jeongin knew they were talking about how clueless Hyunjin is on his effect on women and sometimes men. “What an idiot.” Woojin and Jeongin chuckled. “Can’t argue with that.”

At around 8pm, Changbin, Jisung and Felix arrives. All three of them looked like death. Jisung’s heavy footsteps led him to Jeongin’s side. He pulled the chair and almost instantly falling into the younger’s lap. “I’m so fucking drained.” his voice turned into a hum as Jeongin ran a soothing hand through his hair. Jisung fought the urge to sleep, enjoying the feeling for a bit longer before Felix kicked his chair, replacing it with his own. “I want head scratches too.”

They argued loudly, earning a warning growl from Woojin. In the end, Jeongin sat in between them, their heads on each of his shoulders, as both his hands scratched their heads. Seungmin scowled at the scene. “What a bunch of dogs.”

“Hey!”

“Fact check: I’m a fox, mate.” Felix pouted.

Woojin called up Taeyong, asking the newly arrived people to tell him what they want. He mumbled a soft thanks to Taeyong before turning his head at Changbin. “What took you guys so long?” Changbin groaned as he leaned back his seat, hands massaging his temples, being reminded by the hell they went through earlier was draining him more. “Ugh. After shopping with Chan, he dropped me and Felix off at the studio. Jisung was already there when we went in. We had to come up with melodies from scratch for a mini album,” glaring at Jisung, he continued. “Jisung said they need it by next week. But when Felix checked in with their representative, they said 3 weeks.”

Bolting upright, Jisung whined. “I said I was sorry!” Changbin groaned, nodding his head. He had no choice. What’s done is done. “I almost lost my remaining 3 brain cells for coming up with lyrics.” Felix nuzzled further onto Jeongin’s shoulder, his breathe tickling the boy’s neck. The confused look on Jeongin’s face came unnoticed. Album? Melodies? Who are these people? “You have a studio? Felix writes? You guys are producers? What?” Jeongin threw around a measuring eye. Gaze lingering slightly at Hyunjin before settling to Changbin.

His head whipped back to Woojin on his right when the man spoke, “We’ll tell everything later. Okay?” all he could was nod, still baffled by the facts he had discovered in a span of a day.

“Chan’s here.” the wolves stated in unison. And as in cue, the bell chimed. “We can smell him.” Jeongin’s question was answered even before it was asked. All their heads whipped towards the direction of the entrance, it was definitely Chan followed by Minho.

After confirming it was them, Seungmin’s eyes fell on Jeongin. The boy’s face was beaming more than ever. Seungmin frowned, can’t he be more subtle about his feelings? Geez. He though Chan was clever, but he’s not smart enough to realize their unsaid feelings towards each other? Hyunjin might actually lose his title for being the most naive and gullible idiot. “Hey, Woojin.” the rest of them didn’t notice Changbin moving to Woojin’s side. He pulled out a file folder from his backpack, placing it into the table table before sliding it to Woojin. Changbin pulled his seat closer to Woojin, flipping through the folder before speaking. “Can you sing this one verse for me, I can’t figure out the melody that well.” Felix and Jisung stood behind Woojin and Changbin, peering over the paper as if they were waiting for the alpha to sing.

“This one?” Changbin nodded, mumbling a short ‘thanks’ to Jisung who lent him the laptop. As the four of them were busy in their own world. Chan and Minho settled down. Chan slyly taking the ‘empty’ seat beside Jeongin, they both smiled at each other. “What’s the delay?” Hyunjin asked with a mouthful of his 3rd slice of cheesecake. Chan glared slightly at Minho before leaning back on his chair. “After dropping off Changbin and Lix at their studio. Minho called, his voice was so panicky, I worried and rushed to him.” Minho stood up, saying he wanted to check out the pastries and drinks. But, clearly he was just trying to avoid being scolded by Chan. “He dragged me to his busking gig, I was annoyed at first but I let it slide since the shop’s closed for a week,” Jeongin yelped, eyes wide as he looked at Chan. “The shop’s closed?” he couldn’t hide the hint of sadness in his voice. Chan’s lip hardened, looking away from Jeongin’s pouty face. He took a deep breath, swallowing the lump on his throat. “Y-yeah, but just for a week.” Chan smiled. He forced himself to look at Jeongin’s eyes, failing miserably, his eyes settled on the boy’s forehead. “Anyway, I thought it would only be quick like his former busking sessions. But that dumbass took forever.” Hyunjin cackled, sipping on his drinks as he eyes Jeongin.

Jeongin’s attention was caught by the 4 people on his side, he was immersed by Chan’s rant but Woojin’s voice startled him. Wide eyed, mouth agape, he gazed at Woojin. Effortlessly belting the bridge part of the song. Changbin nods his head, muttering multiple ‘OK’s’ as he writes down notes. Felix on the other hand tilted his head, grabbing the piece of paper from the table. He wasn’t quite satisfied how the wording sounds. He walked towards Chan’s side, “Hey, Chan. Can you run over this part. It sounds awkward.” Chan nodded, gently grabbing the paper from Felix. He focused on reading the lyrics, a bit bothered by the amount of staring the boy beside him was doing. He cleared his throat and beckoned Felix to pull a chair beside him, and he did.

“Jeongin.” the boy’s eyes found the owner of the voice. “Sit beside me.” Seungmin pulled out the seat from his right, Jeongin quietly stood up from his current seat. Plopping down beside Seungmin. As soon as Seungmin’s hand fell on his left thigh, he felt relaxed, giving the witch a small smile as thanks. Mostly everyone had their own business. Minho and Hyunjin was pigging out on Seungmin’s left side. And the rest were busy helping Changbin with music production. As soon as they finished, all attention was focused on the alpha.

The number of customers dwindled over time, but there were still a few once it hit 10pm. Ah, right. They were at the center of Seoul. People barely sleep. Most shops are open 24 hours. Woojin’s café used to be like that. But as more and more people visit them, his employees had a hard time adjusting to the hectic schedule. So he decided, to be open by 10AM until 3AM, and just to be fair, he hired more part-timers, so that the full timers can have the night shift off. Chan peered cautiously over the group of college students 2 tables away from them. “They’re definitely gonna hear us.” Seungmin and Jeongin giggled, garnering 7 pair of eyes. “What?” Chan asked, a bit irritated. “College students don’t give a damn, Chan.” Jeongin nodded, crossing his arms as a cheeky smile grew on his face. The confused 7 pair of eyes went back and forth from Seungmin to Jeongin, before Minho yelled a loud “WHAT DO YOU MEAN”. Covering his mouth, the rest of them carefully looked back at the students. Stunned by their lack of care with those around them. They weren’t fully rowdy, the boys talked quietly with each other as they bury their faces on thick textbooks, and the girls were busy typing down on their laptops. “That’s what I mean.”

“But for safety precautions,” Seungmin snapped his fingers, Jeongin felt a gust of cold wind for a second. “I put up a spell. Every time someone talks, the words they say are different on the outside.” After Hyunjin and Felix had their fun with the ‘spell’. Woojin started the meeting. “Okay, first of all, our jobs.” Jeongin listened attentively, Seungmin almost laughed when the boy pulled out his phone, launching the notes app, getting ready to jot down the details. “I had this café for 10 years now. The pack used to work here before too.” Woojin pointed at Hyunjin. “And you’re knowledgeable of Hyunjin’s modeling career.” Jeongin nodded, still quite shocked by Hyunjin’s career. But well, it did suit the good looking man. Woojin took a sip of his coffee before nodding at Minho, “When I moved here, it wasn’t that crowded yet. But a few years ago, Felix and I moved in together. And we saw someone dancing at the streets of Hongdae. We had nothing else to do, so we gave it a try. And well, it was fun! We weren’t in it for the money at all. It was quite amazing to perform in front of other people.”

“Do you guys get scouted a lot?” Jeongin questioned, fully aware on how the entertainment industry works in South Korea. Minho and Felix looked at each other before snorting. “Yeah, at least.” Chan on the other hand snickered. “Least? Dude, every time I go to one of your busking sessions, scouts swarm you guys with their numbers. Some even had contracts on hand. And that’s ‘least’? Get the fuck out of here.” Felix hid his reddening face with his hands, while Minho, who was known to be a bit egotistical, chuckled quite proudly. “But yeah, after moving in with the wolves. It’s kinda hard to go back and forth. Still, I try.” Jeongin nodded in awe. All the information he was getting was like some sort of a fiction story. It was so overwhelming and they’re not even done yet.

“Jisung and Changbin are music producers slash composers. They work with big and small companies. Felix who just joined them after moving in the mansion, now works as a composer also. Their studio is near here.” Woojin declared. Smiling softly as he patted Changbin’s head. The wolf whined, lightly slapping away Woojin’s heavy hand.

After fixing his hair, Changbin turned to Jeongin, giving him an encouraging smile, “You can drop by anytime.” Jisung eagerly nodded his head, agreeing to Changbin. Jeongin gave them an open mouth smile, adorably clapping his excited hands. “Oh yeah! Jeongin’s a great singer too!” Jeongin ordered Hyunjin to stop while trying to hide his embarrassed face. He looked up at Seungmin, clearly asking for help. But was betrayed when the witch fueled the fire. “Giggles is correct. Jeongin’s amazing”

“Woah! You definitely should drop by!” Jisung blurted enthusiastically. “Yeah. You can sing demo’s for us.” Changbin added. All Jeongin could do was nod his head and pray to the lords for them to move on with the topic. Thankfully, Woojin saved him.

“And you know well that Chan owns a shop. And Seungmin’s your senior.” after the brief, they let him take everything in. Opening up some small talk as Jeongin got comfortable. “Alright, about the barrier at Jeongin’s house and University,” Chan’s face grew serious. Giving his full attention to the alpha. “Hyunjin and I felt it as soon as we entered the compound. But, we both thought it was a precautionary measure made by Seungmin, and we were wrong.” Seungmin gulped loudly, shifting from his seat before he spoke. “I didn’t put any spell around the campus. You do know, beings like us live amongst the humans without their knowledge.” the rest of them nodded, while Jeongin was a bit taken aback by the information. ‘So it wasn’t just them?’

“I did not want to be discovered because they might,” Carefully choosing his words, he paused for a second, of course, it was not gone unnoticed by a very observant Chan. “It might fuel they’re desire to seek who put the spell.” His eyes momentarily flickered from Woojin to Chan. The only people who knew about him. “So I was shocked when Woojin and Giggles asked me about the barrier.” Hyunjin pouted and glared at Seungmin, he was not pleased by the pet name. “I really don’t know how you guys discovered it, so please tell me you were just messing around.”

Woojin sighed nodding at Hyunjin who was waiting for his approval to speak. “It was not subtle at all, Seungmin.” the witch whipped his head on Hyunjin’s direction, his face evident of confusion. “Even a newborn wolf can sense it. The rest of you can sense it.” Hyunjin pointed at everyone using his fork, eyes going back to meet Seungmin’s furious ones. “So you’re saying I’m weak?”

“I’m saying the one who did it made sure to make it non-existent solely for you.” and it hit him. Seungmin’s eyes flickered downwards. Embarrassed by his own outburst, Seungmin eyes focused on the floor, only to be taken away by Jeongin who touched his hand on the boy’s thigh. Dark sparkly orbs stared right through him, soft words followed by a soft smiled calmed him down. “Life becomes easier when you learn to give the apology you never got.” the boy’s words were spoken in a hushed tone, which was pretty useless because everyone heard it. But that didn’t matter to him right now. He heaved a sigh, flipping his hand on Jeongin’s thigh, which the younger accepted. Lacing his slender fingers with Seungmin’s. “Sorry, giggles.” although the pet name was present, Hyunjin could sense the sincerity even behind the smug look Seungmin was giving him.

“And my hunch is that Professor.” Jeongin flinched, remembering the terrifying scenario earlier. Seungmin could feel the boy tense on his side, he gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “Professor?” Jisung asked. “Jeongin’s professor.”

Woojin turned to Seungmin, “You can find her information right?” the witch nodded, giving Jeongin a smile before retrieving his hand. He cracked his knuckles, and with a snap of his fingers. A thick, vintage book appeared. Floating in front of him. “Hang on,” the book flipped through the pages itself. “W-wait, they might… see?” Felix’s voice trailed off as he looks around the café. It was only them. “I had Jaehyun close the shop early today. It’s 1AM.”

“Barrier was gone like an hour ago, Lix. You dumdum.”

“Shut up, Binnie Binnie Changbinnie.”

Before they could engage in a fight. Woojin ordered them to stop.

“I do know who she is though.” Seungmin blurted, eyes still scanning through the flipping pages. “I know everyone in school. She’s the Hyerin Yoo. The Music Department’s head. She’s very famous amongst her students.” Jeongin who wanted to contribute, fumbled for his phone. Handing it to the rest to show her picture. “Damn, she’s hot.” Jisung leered. Earning a hard smack on the back of his head from Changbin. “What? She is!”

Ignoring Jisung’s last remarks, Seungmin continued, “She’s only been teaching there for 7 years, but she’s already the head.” With the help of Jeongin, he told them the basic biography of the professor. The floating book rested on the table with a loud thud. “Found it.” once again, his hair turned ghost white, eyes were the shade of violet. “Huh, looks like that’s the only info she has. Everything I just told you.” the book closed but remained still on the table. “You actually told us a lot.” Felix stated. And for the first time, Chan spoke. “So you’re implying that it was Hyerin Yoo who created that barrier? With what evidence?” Seungmin and Woojin’s eyes met. Unlike the alpha, Seungmin could not hide his wariness. Woojin spoke in behalf of Jeongin. Going through the scene that happened earlier.

“She what?” Jisung’s voice was laced with anger. The atmosphere suddenly became suffocating. Jeongin fidgetted on his seat. Feeling sorry for the mess he made. Felix, who was ready to kill, spoke, his voice even getting deeper. “Where is she?”

Woojin tried to calm them down, “Now now. It’s okay now, she didn’t hurt Jeongin. Right, sweetie?” Jeongin nodded. “I’m okay! It was a bit scary but Seungmin, Woojin and Hyunjin were there.” a sigh of relief escaped their lungs. “She’s our prime suspect then.”

“She’s our only suspect.” Minho corrected Hyunjin. “She knows Seungmin’s a witch. So she might be a witch.”

“Figure that out yourself, genius?” Hyunjin glared at Minho. “She might also be the one who put up the barriers at Jeongin’s place. Seungmin, you sure you don’t know her from you past or anything?” Seungmin frowned, shaking his head to answer Felix’s question. They argued for a while, coming up with possibilities of Seungmin being connected to Hyerin Yoo.

Woojin then turned to Jeongin.

“Jeongin, did she visit your house?”

Jeongin smiled sadly, gaze lowering as Chan’s question hung in the air. He sighed, looking up to them with somber eyes. “I never had anyone over at my place.” a great pain shot through their hearts. They felt sorry for the boy. The room went still, Seungmin placed a hand on Jeongin’s shoulder, making him look up. Jeongin was welcomed by smiling faces, “Then we definitely should come over.” everyone agreed on Changbin’s suggestion. Already planning what they would bring as gifts.

“Ah man, I want to taste your mom’s cooking!”

“You only think about food, Jisung.”

“That’s bold to say, coming from you Hyunjin.”

Wide eyed, Hyunjin retialiated. “What does that even mean?! And why are you all laughing? WHY?” in the end, the café was filled with their laughter and teasing. “You guys are a bunch of meanies! I’m gonna get more cake!” the rest roared louder as Hyunjin stomped away towards the counter, not aware of what he just said. “We better apologize before he eats the whole kitchen.” one by one they all stood up, heading towards the counter. Jeongin lingered a little, eyes solely focused on his friends. Hands naturally touching each other, smiles never fading on their lips. Even Seungmin was bright and happy, he has never seen him like that before. The school would probably be like headless chickens running around the field if they saw him at that state.

Slowly, his hand creep up to his chest. It was beating so fast, in a non-scared way. The thought of having friends was a big thing for him when he was young, but after years and years of trying to make some, he lost the will to do so. His imagination couldn’t fuel the desire anymore. So, he just let everything go. Seeing his classmates all happy with their own circle didn’t make sense to him anymore, it was like having friends wasn’t such a big deal. That it was far more disappointing and boring than it looks.

Jeongin was suddenly aware of his emotions, tears stained his vision. Lowering his gaze so that no one would see, he hurriedly wiped them, but they just won’t stop escaping his eyes. He was so happy. Fuck no, he was ecstatic. He’s feeling so much at the moment, he can’t think straight. He doesn’t want this moment to end. He doesn’t want to let go of them. Letting out all his pent up sadness, Jeongin sobbed, loud enough for everyone to hear. 8 pair of feet stood in front of him. Jeongin lifted his head up.

His sobs grew louder as he was pulled into a big, warm hug. “It’s okay. We’re here now.” with just those words, he let loose of everything. Nuzzling his face to whoever’s chest it was.

“Idiot Hyunjin, why are you crying?”

“You’re crying too, Felix.”

“W-what? That’s not me. Jisung’s the one who’s ugly sobbing.”

“Hey! I got something in my eye okay?”

“M-minho is definitely not crying.”

“Please stop referring yourself in 3rd person.”

“Oi, Changbin. Are you crying?”

“Shut up, Woojin! You’re tearing up too, even Seungmin’s cryin---oh wait, he’s not.”

As they broke up, bickering. Chan’s hand found Jeongin’s. Looking up to the owner of the hand, Jeongin’s flushed eyes found Chan’s. They exchanged silent smiles, already knowing each other’s words.

“Let’s take a polaroid!”

You could say it was fate. But there are too many idiots in their group to fully agree with that. “MINHO YOU’RE STEPPING ON MY FOOT!!!!” If only he could hold on to this moment for a non-existent forever. “Okay! Everyone ready? Say ‘dumbass’ in 1, 2, 3…” Jeongin smiled, forever does exists when you believe. And he does… he really does.

“DUMBASS!”


	9. Stay

Chapter 9

 

Stay

 

Toiletries, snacks, ice cream, juice boxes, and more. Felix struggled on pushing the cart towards Chan who was busy going through multiple scented candles. “Oi, Hyunjin. Hurry up with that.” Felix spun his head around, calling over Hyunjin who was pushing yet another cart full of ‘gifts’.

 

“Chan, we’re just picking out a house-warming gift, not prepare for an apocalypse.” Felix frowned perplexedly; the vampire didn’t even give him a glance. Felix’s face lit up in expectation as Chan turns to him, two different colored candles on each hand, Chan holds up one hand after the other, “Vanilla or Rose?”. Felix huffed out air from his cheeks, almost snarling at the man. “Seriously? Didn’t you hear what I just said?” Chan turned back to the shelf, crouching down to get a whole box. He stood up and gingerly walked towards Felix, placing the new content gently atop the mountain of items. “Jeongin likes the smell of vanilla.” He smiles shyly, engrossed by the thought of Jeongin’s face smelling the scented candles.

 

Felix paused, stunned and comprehending. He cannot believe Chan just ignored him like that, again! Felix furrowed his eyebrows, lips hardening as he tries hard not to square up on Chan. He knows the vampire is way more powerful than him, but he’d risk his life just to get the man to listen to him. “Mate, will you please just listen to me.”

 

“Let’s pay for it then.” Chan looks up to him, giving him a smile. He turns around and calls out to Hyunjin. Hyunjin walks by Felix, putting a hand on his shoulder. Felix sighs, looking up to Hyunjin. “Hang in there, Lix.” he gives up. His heavy steps echoed slightly as he forced himself to follow the two. “Can we get something to eat after this? I’m starving.” Hyunjin whined, handing the last bag of chips to Chan.

 

“We can eat at home, Hyunjin. We have too much food.” Hyunjin pursed his lips, glaring at Chan as he hugs Felix from behind. “But I want pasta.” widening his eyes, Felix shot Chan a meaningful glance. “Pasta sounds good, mate.” Chan rolls his eyes, sighing as he hands his card at the cashier. “Lix, your accent comes out whenever you’re excited or mad. And that’s not a good sign.” Throwing his hands in the air as a sign of defeat. “Alright! But we must be quick. I’m visiting Jeongin’s at around 5PM.” the two kids jumped in glee, prancing their way out even with bagful of groceries on each arm. Chan shakes his head, looking at the cashier apologetically as she hands him his card.

 

“Sorry about those idiots.” the cashier’s cheeks turned crimson, her fingers brushing against the fine man’s cold ones was making her heart race more than ever. Chan smiles at her, showcasing his dimples at the already flustered employee.

 

-

 

A pair of feet stood frozen in front of a stone path. Chan fidgeted uncontrollably, thinking if vampires could sweat, he would be standing in a pool of his own. Mustering up his courage, he took the last remaining steps, halting in front of the door. Chan’s eyes scanned the place.

 

The house was a series of rectangles constructed of steel and glass. It was unapologetically modern. It stood amidst the manicures lawn as if it was placed neatly atop of it. The roof was flat and there was no visible chimney, not that people use chimneys in the city. The front door was made of what seemed to be ivory, on the contrary, it blended well with the modern design of the house. You can tell that it has been there for quite a while, considering a few cracks and faded paint on the walls. He pressed the doorbell once, shoving his hand back in his pocket. Hearing the faint sound of people talking stop, Chan straightens up.

 

The door swings open, revealing a middle-aged woman, smiling from ear to ear. Chan almost took a step back, realizing she looked so much like Jeongin. “You must be Chan?” he floundered, almost folding his body in half as he bowed. “Hello, Ma’am! My n-name is Bang Chan, I’m from the antique shop across the street,” feeling a warm hand his left shoulder, Chan looks up. If he was capable of blushing, we would probably be a red-hot mess right that moment. “I know, sweetheart.” Jeongin’s mom’s smile was so loving, he found himself mirroring back the action. “Now, come inside. It’s cold!” Chan nodded, feeling relieved she invited him inside. As soon as he stepped inside, his eyes wandered around the hallway. He was a bit jealous of Seungmin who came to this house on multiple occasions, but he still felt thankful for the witch. He visited the place, well not really, more like disguised himself as a repairman, to ‘fix’ the ‘broken’ sink. His purpose was to undo the spell, that took him quite a while. The sink? It was his magic that ‘broke’ it, so he fixed that up within a second.

 

The house was welcoming from the open door to the wide hallway. Upon the walls were the photographs of children, so obviously loved. The floor was an old-fashioned wooden floor with a blend of deep homely browns and the walls were the cream colored, meeting a bold white baseboard. On his right was a white banister, with a few light scratches on it, stairs leading to the 2nd floor. As he reached the end of the hallway, his eyes scattered around the spacious living room. A leather sofa set neatly lined up at the center. “Honey, our guest is here.” Chan panicked, realizing he just went over Jeongin’s father. Once again, he bowed, apologizing for his ignorance. “It’s alright. Don’t worry.” Chan was so amazed on how nice and warm Jeongin’s parents were. He can’t help but smile upon realizing Jeongin was so much like his parents.

 

He sat down across Jeongin’s dad, tapping his fingers on his knees. Jeongin’s mom went back to the kitchen. “Bang Chan, was it?” Chan looked up to Mr. Yang’s smiling figure, “Yes, Sir.” Mr. Yang chuckled. “Just call me Mr. Yang.” the vampire nodded, feeling his dead organs almost coming back to life. “Did you live overseas, Chan?”

 

“Yes, I grew up in Australia and moved here around 8 years ago.” it wasn’t completely a lie but lying to such nice people felt so bad. He hasn’t felt that guilt ever since he was a kid. “8 years? That’s why you’re Korean is flawless.” Chan thanked him. “But you look young. Did you come here alone 8 years ago?” Chan almost frowned, seeing Mr. Yang’s face filled with worry. “Yes, I really wanted to live here even since I was small. And the only option was moving here alone to study.”

 

“What a brave kid. Do your parents visit you here?” Chan’s smiled abruptly faltered, he looked outside the window, sighing as he faced Mr. Yang with a sad smile. “They used to.” Chan’s eyes fell on the floor, that was not a lie at all. He looked up feeling a hand on his shoulder, pretending to act surprised even though he knew the man was walking to his side. Chan’s smile regained its shine as he sees Mr. Yang’s fatherly one. “You know what, don’t call us Mr. and Mrs. Yang.” Chan was alarmed, he started to panic, thinking he said or did something that would offend them. But he was relieved after the man continued, “You can call us Uncle and Auntie if you want. You’re always welcome our family, okay?” as Mr. Yang pats him once again, he turns his back and heads towards the kitchen. Chan couldn’t help but smile. At first, he thought Jeongin was the nicest, warmest person he had ever met. But his family was something else.

 

The vampire’s heightened senses heard the door swing open and close with a soft thud. Resting his elbows on both his knees, Chan gathered his hands together, he was expecting a kid. A grade-schooler or something like that. The heartbeat softly drumming on his ears were faster than an adults’. “I’m home!”

 

“Who are you?”

 

“Hello there, I’m Chan. I’m a friend of Jeongin’s.” Chan smiled softly, standing up. The kid eyed him suspiciously. Chan almost burst into a fit of laughter, it was like he was seeing a 10-year-old Jeongin. Their eyes are carbon copies of each other’s. “My brother? You mean that loser has friends?” the kid snickered, bowing his head respectively before sauntering up the stairs, Chan followed his small figure until it vanished.

 

He sat back down, pulling out his phone from his pocket.

 

To: Woojin

17:34

Are you home?

 

From: Woojin

17:36

Yep. The puppies are all here

except for Jisung, he said

he’s finishing something at the

studio.

 

To: Woojin

17:37

Alright. How ‘bout the others?

 

From: Woojin

17:38

Seungmin’s at the basement

(as usual). I was supposed to be delivering Jisung his dinner, but Minho volunteered haha.

And~ Felix is playing with the wolves.

 

Chan frowned, there’s something really going on between Jisung and Minho. He would protest to it but, what can he do, right?

 

He’s also praying that Seungmin would not blow up the mansion any time soon. It’s been 2 months since he moved in with them at the mansion. It was a hard bargain, Woojin had to hire someone to clean the gigantic basement just for Seungmin. It took 15 people to finish cleaning up the place. Chan was impressed that Woojin really wanted the witch to live with them that much. The only benefit they would get from letting Seungmin move in was that the whole mansion became spotless in just a span of a day. Seungmin was a fucking clean freak. A bit controlling but otherwise okay.

 

Woojin even hired a professional interior designer for the basement. Of course, that person was a supernatural being too. She had been hired by high-class witches and other beings before. A basement never looked so classier. It didn’t look like a witch’s den at all. By the way, don’t mention that in front of Seungmin or else he would hex you. Jisung had thorns growing out of his back, he had to wear 3 layers of clothing for 2 weeks.

 

The basement also has a built-in room, so he has a place to sleep in whenever he feels like it. But he also has a separate bedroom on the second floor, beside Jeongin’s of course.

 

Felix choked after he saw the bill on how much everything costs. And he almost fainted upon knowing that Woojin paid almost half of it for his renovated room when he moved in. Money wasn’t really a big issue for them, but Felix felt so bad for having them spend that much on them, and well, he cried when Woojin told him he’s basically family and that he loves every one of them equally. Minho acted cool but he was also tearing up at the side.

 

Chan sent Woojin one last text, informing him that he’s at Jeongin’s and will probably be home late. He slid his phone back into his pocket, scanning the living room once more. He can’t help but smirk, Woojin has his way of manipulating people. With good intentions of course. Generally, he’s a really warm and loving person, the sole reason why Chan helped him and the rest of his pack a few centuries back.

 

Chan’s attention was taken away by frantic pair of feet stumbling down the stairs. A disheveled Jeongin tripped and fell on the last 3 steps, he didn’t really want to get up from bed. But when his little brother, who was bashing his door, said something about a pale as fuck, blonde man, Jeongin left his soul on his bed.  

 

Out of instinct Chan was up to his feet right in front of Jeongin. The boy’s eyes widened, hurriedly getting back on his feet. “Chan! You can’t use your powers here!” he floundered, failing to keep his balance as Chan held him by his elbow. Powers? He’s not a superhero. “What happened? Did you feel down the stairs?” Mr. Yang appeared from the kitchen, slowly trailing towards their direction, Jeongin let out an embarrassed laugh, eyeing Chan quietly. Hoping his Dad won’t notice Chan’s sudden appearance.

 

“But Dad! That’s not the issue here! Why didn’t any of you guys told me that Chan was here?” Jeongin turns to Chan, pointing at him while pouting like a kid, “And you! Don’t laugh! Why didn’t you call me? Or even text me? H-Hey! Dad, why are you laughing to? B-BOTH OF YOU ARE SUCH MEANIES! Mom!” Jeongin shoves them both lightly as he passes through, heading to the kitchen, Mr. Yang cackles loudly as both him and Chan make eye contact with each other. ‘Humans are weird’ Chan thought. As they slowly regain composure, Jeongin comes out the kitchen with a pout on his lips. “We’re sorry.” both said in unison, Mr. Yang heads upstairs, saying he’s gonna call Jeongin’s younger brother for dinner. “Chan, sweetie.”

 

“Will you be joining us for dinner, or do you have any plans to go out?” before Chan could get a chance to mutter a word, Jeongin’s hand was pressed firmly against his mouth. “We’re gonna go out, right Chan?” the vampire could feel Jeongin’s intense gaze even though his back was turned against him. With a little bit of his strength, he pulled the boy’s hand off his mouth. “Dinner sounds great, Auntie.” Mrs. Yang chuckles softly at the boys.

 

“Alright. Let me set up the table then.”

 

“I can help you with that.” the same pair of dark brown eyes ordered him to a stop. “No. Just relax here.” Chan floundered, taking a step towards his previous seat, picking up multiple bags. “These are from me and my family.” Jeongin’s mouth went agape as his eyes focused on the number of gifts the vampire was handing over. “Dear lord! This is too much!” Jeongin couldn’t agree more with what his mom has exclaimed. Scratching his nape, Chan smiled meekly. “I didn’t know what to give.”

 

“So, you decided to buy the whole store?” Chan couldn’t hide his embarrassment in front of Mrs. Yang and Jeongin. His ears told him 3 figures were about to emerge from the stairs. “Woah~ mom what are those!” Jeongin’s little brother scurried his way towards their position, snatching the heavy bags from Mrs. Yang’s grip. Chan smiled softly, kneeling to face the kid. “These are gifts from my family.”

 

Jeongin completely forgotten about everything, he couldn’t quite hear what Chan said before he handed the goods over to his mom. But when Chan repeated the same words, Jeongin felt his heart warming up. ‘Chan’s family… that’s everyone in the mansion.’ His eyes fell onto Chan. Was he really the same guy from the first time he stepped inside the Antique Shop? It’s hard to tell.

 

“Who are you?” a much taller version of Jeongin came into Chan’s view. “You must be his older brother, I’m Chan, Jeongin’s friend.” The man cackled. Throwing a heavy arm around Jeongin, almost choking the boy. “This loser has a friend? Unbelievable.” Jeongin struggled underneath his brother’s tight grip, shoving him after he got free. “Fuck off.”

 

“Language!”

 

“Sorry, Mom.”

 

Jeongin’s older brother ruffled his hair before taking the contents on his mom’s hand, his younger brother trailing behind then as they head inside the kitchen area. Chan gave Mr. Yang a smile as the man nodded at him, calling out to his two sons who were now arguing loudly at the dinner table.

 

“Thank you for these, Chan. Now sit down, I’ll call you when the table is set, okay?” Chan and Jeongin were left alone in the living room, a suffocating silence settled around them. Jeongin awkwardly sat down on the sofa, Chan following him. “Why didn’t you call me?” almost instantly, the uneasy air around them vanished, Chan turned to Jeongin. “It was a surprise!” he chuckled, pulling the pouting boy into his arms. “Were you surprised?”

 

Jeongin pushed Chan lightly, gathering his legs together, hiding his face in between them. Chan tried to muffle his chuckles as he notices the only visible part of Jeongin’s face was redder than normal. “Your ears are red.” Jeongin snapped his head up, standing quickly, hiding his face on his large hands. “You don’t have to say everything you see, ugh!” and now, Chan couldn’t hold his laughter anymore. He pulls Jeongin by his hand, nuzzling his face onto Jeongin’s back. Chan snakes his buff arms around the boy’s waist. “Chan! Let go of me, now.” Jeongin giggles as Chan shakes his head against his back, tickling him in the process. “Mmfffm.”

 

“What?”

 

“Mffmfm.”

 

“Dude, you know I can’t hear you.”

 

Chan moved his head back, but his arms remained anchored. “I said, the boys miss you.” Jeongin flinched a little as Chan buries his face once more. He sighs, relaxing underneath Chan’s embrace. He put both his hands-on top of Chan’s cold ones. “I miss them too. Why didn’t you invite them?” Chan let’s go of Jeongin, the boy sits beside him, leaning back as their shoulders touch. “You know how chaotic they can get.” Jeongin chuckles. Braces in full view. “Yeah, but mom likes it when its chaotic here.” Chan nods his head. “Yeah, judging by you and you brothers’ relationship. I’m guessing it gets pretty rowdy here.” Jeongin chuckles, agreeing fully. “Seungmin moved in 2 months ago, right?” Chan inches closer to Jeongin, putting a hand on the boy’s thigh, ignoring the meaningful gaze on his face. “Yeah, did he tell you in school?”

 

Jeongin clears his throat, focusing on not stuttering as his face grows redder. “I guess. We call and chat almost every day when we don’t see each other in school. And I noticed his things at the mansion every time I visit.” At this certain moment, Chan would probably be annoyed but he wasn’t. Why?

 

Jeongin’s fingers slowly taps the hand on his thigh, as Chan turns it over Jeongin laced their fingers together. “Oh, okay.” They grew quiet, Chan bit his lip, forcing himself not to grin like an idiot. He couldn’t dare look at Jeongin’s face which is now redder than a tomato, “Chan, Jeongin! Let’s eat.” Chan stood up. Hands still intertwined with Jeongin’s. He gives the boy a big grin, Jeongin looks up, admiring Chan’s eye smile. “You do know my family is beyond that wall.” The boy was pertaining to their hands linked together. Chan rolls his eyes. “Yes, I’ll let go before we enter the kitchen.” Jeongin sighs again, standing up. “Yes, boss.”

 

“Wait. How are you gonna eat?”

 

Chan snickers. “Looks like Seungmin isn’t educating you enough about vampires.”

 

“He did. But he told me you can’t eat a lot, and you have to vomit everything or else you’re gonna die.” Jeongin’s tone turned from playful to worried. Chan stops from his tracks, turning his head to Jeongin. “He said that?” Jeongin nodded. “Yeah.”

 

“That fucking liar.”

 

Jeongin laughs out loud. “Was he lying? Hahaha!” Chan rolls his eyes, retrieving his hand from Jeongin’s grip. “I won’t die. I would feel a bit queasy, but you can’t kill me with just that.” Jeongin continued laughing. Chan threw his hand in the air, turning to his heel and trudging towards the kitchen. “I’m gonna kill him.”

 

“No no Chan no~”

 

-

 

“Mom, did you add garlic?”

 

“Everything in this table has a little bit of garlic. Why?”

 

Jeongin looked at Chan who just sat down beside him. “Chan’s allergic to it.”

 

“Oh gosh.” she exclaimed. Chan smiled meekly. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you.”

 

“A garlic allergy? That’s a first for me.” Jeongin’s older brother chirped, scarfing down the meat, stopping midway to evade his mom’s incoming hand. “Who said you could eat first? And wash your hands!” he groaned, pushing his seat back. “I think I still have some rice rolls on the fridge, let me heat that up for you.” Chan stood up but was stopped by Mr. Yang who gave him a silencing hand. “Sit down, Chan. It’s fine.” Chan sat back down, feeling a bit guilty.

 

“Are you a vampire, Chan?”

 

Jeongin who was taking a sip, choked on his water because of his little brother’s words. Hacking a series of cough as Chan puts a hand on his back. “What if I am?” he said with a joking tone. Jeongin stepped on Chan’s foot underneath the table, earning a lazy glance from the vampire. Ah fuck, boo boo the fool who forgot Chan was a vampire. “You know that didn’t hurt me at all?” with a mocking tone and a mocking smile, Chan teased Jeongin. The boy rolled his eyes, standing up to help his mom serve. “You’re an idiot.” The vampire chuckled lightly from the boy’s whispered words.

 

“Are you really?” the excited kid asked, his eyes full of curiosity and awe. Chan smiles, reaching out his hand to pat the boy’s head. “I’ll leave that to your imagination, kid.”

 

Dinner was ‘chaotic’ as Chan would say. But it was the good kind of chaotic. Chan felt like he never left the mansion, the 3 Yangs’ were fighting while Mrs. Yang scolds and well, Mr. Yang is just chuckling on the side, while giving Chan an apologetic look. “You’ll get used to it.”

 

“I’m no stranger to this at all.”

 

“Leave the dishes, Chan. You boys go up in Jeongin’s room. I’ll bring up snacks.” remembering the ‘code’ for not helping out because he was the guest, Chan stood up after Jeongin, “Thanks for the meal.” They sauntered out the kitchen, leaving the rest of the Yangs.

 

“Wait.” Jeongin stopped on his tracks. “You forgot something.” turning around with his eyebrows furrowed. Forget what? His gaze fell unto Chan’s outstretched fist before it came back up to the neutral expression on his face. “What is it?” reaching out his hand, his question hung in the air. Face heating up as Chan, who pretended to put something on his palm, intertwined their fingers once more. Even though his hands were ice-cold, Jeongin couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. Turning his back on the elder, he dragged him up the stairs, too embarrassed to even look at the guy. Chan on the other hand, chuckled, his plan had worked.

 

Since when did a millennium-old vampire learned to do such tricks? Make that more than a millennium-old. Maybe from the large amount of Korean dramas he watched ever since he met the boy. God, he would want a stake through his heart just by thinking of his sudden change of attitude and norms, all because of Yang Jeongin.

 

“Stop smiling like a fucking idiot and get in here.” Chan was yanked out of his thoughts. “Come on, Chan.” Chan snickers, stepping inside Jeongin’s room. Feeling the soft tickling of the black velvet carpet underneath his feet, Chan closes the door behind him, turning to see Jeongin rummaging through his stuff. Chan’s eyes scanned around, he slowly moves towards Jeongin’s double bed situated near a big rectangular window directly across the door, giving him a full view of the city night lights. The scent of the impending winter breeze seeps through the open window. As sat down on the bed, he noticed the bedsheets looked like someone just shimmied their way out of them. That explains Jeongin’s disheveled state from earlier.

 

A desk sits in the corner covered in papers, books and clothes as well as a wireless charger dock and some other knick knacks on the edge. On top of the desk hangs medals, clinking slightly as the wind from the open window blows. A bookshelf was propped beside it, containing what seems to be old books and a few photo albums. And, are those… clothes too? Chan laughs inside his head, maybe those are the stuff that the owner of the room just can’t be bothered to put away. A lone photo frame is on the wall, though it's yet to have a photo be put in it. Another frame sits on the space above Jeongin’s bed, containing a certificate from his acceptance to his current University.

 

Chan’s gaze lingers on the door, he had not noticed the contents of it as he closed it earlier. There was a school calendar, notes scrawled all over it, saying the date of the exam week, what seems to be his family’s birthdays, official holidays and school projects/homework reminders. His eyes fell on Jeongin’s shoulder, the rest of him was hidden behind a black and blue gaming chair. Chan shifts to his side, peering over what Jeongin was doing. The boy had his laptop open; he was skimming through hundreds of movies on Netflix, undecided on what to watch.

 

It was his first time having a friend over, and obviously his first time having a friend step inside his messy room. Jeongin mentally cursed at himself, he should’ve done what his mom told him to do. Her voice echoing ever so loudly in his head ‘Clean your room!’ it’s as if she knew someone was coming over. Even though it was an everyday occurrence.

 

Lastly, Chan’s eyes fell onto a black cork board, leaning on the wall, adjacent to Jeongin’s bed, not yet hung. With his amplified eyesight, Chan can make out the photos and notes pinned to it. His smile grew ever so smugly. There were multiple polaroid photos, the ones they took during a picnic at the mansion’s renovated garden, if it wasn’t for Seungmin, they wouldn’t even bother fixing that garden up. It was too time-consuming. And the notes attached to the photos were the dates and details of that certain day. The photos and notes only occupied a small space, is he planning on putting more?

 

Chan stood up, leaning over to Jeongin. “So, what are we gonna watch?” Jeongin flinched, Chan has no presence at all. “You pick, I can’t choose.” Jeongin stood up, turning to see the state of his bed. His face grew crimson, and almost instantly, he fixes it up. Chan observes the boy, his eyes automatically focusing on Jeongin’s bright red ears.

 

As soon as they agreed on a movie to watch, Jeongin told Chan they could sit on the bed. Chan who’s really weirded out by his sudden obedience to the mere mortal in front of him, followed his orders. 5 minutes in the movie, a soft knock made them look at the door. Emerging from the hallway was Mrs. Yang with snacks and cans of soda. “I’m sorry, but these are from you too.” Chan smiles, saying it was okay. She leaves the room, turning off the light as she closes the door. Chan wobbles as Jeongin stands up, he throws Chan a bag of chips and opts to get two cans of cola before positioning himself beside Chan. "You know I don't need to eat these"

 

"Those are for me." Jeongin said before he snatches the bag of chips from Chan. 

 

“Your mom smells weird.” Jeongin taps the spacebar and the movie continues to play. “What do you mean weird?” Chan shrugs, snatching the bag of chips from Jeongin’s grip before it spills all over the bed and the floor.

 

-

 

“What if I shout near your ear?”

 

“Then I would go deaf.”

 

“But you’re a vampire!”

 

“Look, I can amplify my senses to God knows how high and screaming directly in my ear would definitely make me go deaf for a few seconds before it heals.”

 

“H-Hey! Don’t lift up my shirt!”

 

“I’m just trying to see if you sparkle.”

 

“That’s a fucking hoax. I’m not made of glitter.”

 

Chan rolls his eyes, swatting Jeongin’s roaming hands. He slumps back on the headboard, “Anymore questions?” Jeongin crosses his arms, humming as he thinks with his face. “Do you get burned by holy water?” once again, Chan rolls his eyes, sighing in frustration.

 

The movie was done about 15 minutes ago, so they opted on a question and answer portion, after he vomitted the contents laying on his non-functioning stomach. Although the boy does all the questioning. The moon was in full view in the sky, the clock beats slowly, relentlessly, from across the room. 11PM. “We don’t. Vampires have no correlation with the Church at all.” Chan watches as Jeongin nods slowly. His eyes meeting the boy’s curious ones, oh gosh, he’s so full of questions. “Do you have a reflection?”

 

“Yes. I’m in control of that also.”

 

“You mean…?” Jeongin’s voice trails off, waiting for Chan to continue. He stands up, dragging the boy with him towards the bathroom inside Jeongin’s room. He stood in front of the mirror, Jeongin gasps in astonishment as Chan’s reflection grew more evident. It was like someone was controlling the opacity of his reflection. They went back in the room, but this time, Jeongin was much closer. They sat beside each other, shoulders touching. “One last question.” Jeongin’s voice was now a bit lower, Chan couldn’t see the emotion on his eyes. “Do you have a heartbeat?” Chan swallows the imaginary lump on his throat. It was his opportunity; this is what the male leads do in the dramas he binge-watched with Changbin who was really fucking sick and tired of it but had no choice because Chan might actually kill him.

 

He ‘stretches’ his arms in the air, gingerly placing an arm around the boy. Chan didn’t understand why he was flustered when the boy leaned in to his touch. Jeongin’s hair softly brushing against his cheek. He shifted, pulling Jeongin more to his side. “Yeah.”

 

Jeongin hums, he was too embarrassed to even answer Chan. He was also curious on where Chan learned to do such cheesy moves. It’s not that he didn’t like it.  Jeongin loved it. They sat in silence. Chan could hear Jeongin’s erratic heartbeat turn into a soft tune, he used to be annoyed by that sound. Listening to the same rhythm for centuries was sickening. It was not soothing at all. But, somehow, his insights changed.

 

Chan took a deep breathe in. This was his chance; within the 3 months they had met he never had the chance to talk about the ‘bond mate’ thing. The main reason for that is, Seungmin.

 

Although the witch has fully accepted everyone, he was still wary of the current situation. And it’s hard to admit but, Chan agrees also. This set-up is too complicated. What are the odds?

 

“Jeongin,”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Are we friends?”

 

“Of course, we are.”

 

“Do you like everyone in the mansion?”

 

“I love them.”

 

“Then why don’t you live with us?” Jeongin stiffens underneath Chan’s touch. The question caught him off guard. “It’s not that easy, Chan.”

 

“We can talk to your family about it. I’m sure they’ll understand.” Jeongin removes himself from Chan’s grip, sitting at the edge of the bed with his head hung low. Chan was disappointed by the sudden lack of warmth coming from the boy’s body, Jeongin’s scent lingering underneath his nose. “They have no clue about your existence. I don’t want them to get involved, Chan. I’m happy just the way we are now.” Chan sits up, his cold gaze bearing down on Jeongin. “The way we are now is not enough.” Jeongin snaps his head towards Chan, shivering as their eyes meet. “What do you mean? We’re okay, I visit you guys constantly. We have fun times together. And that’s still not enough?”

 

“For me, it’s not.” Jeongin’s words were caught in his throat. His eyes faltered. “Jeongin, you’re my bond mate.” That term, that cursed term again. It was once brought up during the incident from before, but it still haunts him. As much as he cherishes the bunch, especially Chan. He doesn’t want that kind of setup.

 

With eyebrows furrowed, Jeongin’s tone grew louder, angrier “You cannot own me, Chan. No one can fucking own me. I am not an object.”

 

“I am not owning you.”

 

“Then what does that term mean? What does it mean being your ‘bond mate’” quoting in the hair with his fingers, Jeongin slumps back, fully facing Chan. “We’re destined to meet. And I have been waiting for you for God knows how long. I gave up, a few centuries back because I don’t really give a damn anymore. I didn’t crave for immortality, and I eventually didn’t care about affection anymore.”

 

Jeongin’s breath hitched. Is that the reason why Chan was such a cold-hearted person? Why he only opened up to a few people, none of them were even human to begin with. Or is it just the tip of the iceberg?

 

“In human terms, it means I’m your soulmate.”

 

“Your soul mate? Chan, we’re millenniums apart. I can’t be your soul mate.”

 

“But you are.”

 

Jeongin’s stern gaze turned soft. The look on Chan’s face was indescribable. Within 3 months, he has changed the vampire in front of him. He had met his family, his amazing, chaotic family. And was it really for the best? Was being Chan’s bond mate the sole reason why he met the rest of the boys? What if he wasn’t? What if he was just an ordinary kid who stumbled upon his shop, well he was, up until Felix told Chan that he was his bond mate.

 

He really thought the situation would grow worse. He though Chan would force him into the idea, imprisoning him in the mansion. But if it wasn’t for Seungmin and the wolves… maybe Chan would actually do that.

 

He closes his eyes, trying to avoid Chan’s gaze. He sighs deeply. Opening his arms as a smile forms in his face. “Let’s talk about this, next time. Okay?”

 

“But are you okay with this?”

 

“For now, yes. I want to cherish this moment just for now, please.” Having no other choice, Chan sighs, instead of moving over to Jeongin’s position, he pulls the boy towards him. Jeongin’s head rested on Chan’s chest as Chan snakes his arms around him. “Okay.”

 

Knowing that Jeongin wouldn’t be able to see him. Chan frowns darkly, there was no progress at all. He wants Jeongin. But forcing the boy to live with them would probably be a bad move. He fell deep in his thoughts. But a familiar smell mixing in with Jeongin’s was bothering the hell out of him.

 

Meanwhile, Jeongin smiles in content. Chan is cold. His heart and mind used to be cold. His body was naturally cold. But, maybe, just maybe, he grew a little warmer. A little brighter. A little more positive.

 

He gasps silently, Chan does have a heartbeat. It’s slow…  painfully slow.

 

“MOM! THERE’S 8 HANDSOME GUYS IN FRONT!”

 

Almost instantly, Jeongin vanishes from Chan’s grip, scurrying away down the stairs with a big excited smile on his face. A helpless anger simmered in Chan. “Looks like your date got foiled.” Hyunjin’s cheeky words travelled to his ear, fueling the anger inside of him. Groaning as he follows behind Jeongin.

 

“Beset on all sides by idiots.”


	10. SPECIAL CHAPTER

CHAPTER 10 (SPECIAL CHAPTER)

-Woojin’s Daily Life (Papa Bear)

Waking up to muffled screams and laughter was an everyday routine for Woojin, more like it was his alarm clock. The same scene every day, although different members change ‘roles’. Will he ever get tired of Jisung screaming while running around the house, Seungmin experimenting on Hyunjin just for the hell of it, Minho admiring himself non-stop in front of the whole-body mirror, Changbin and Felix singing loudly and out-of-tune while dancing like idiots? No. Not really. He would actually be worried if he woke up with the whole mansion being quiet as a mouse. That’s when he can tell something is wrong.

Woojin would sit up from his bed, staring blankly at the door, breaking into as smile as he hears Jisung singing on top of his lungs. Pushing himself out of bed, he would stretch his asleep muscles, fixing his clothes right after.

The wolves would simmer down a bit, sensing the alpha was awake. But eventually they would go back to their rowdy selves. With quiet steps, Woojin descends from his room, walking straight to the kitchen to get a bottle of water. He would gulp down the whole bottle before crushing the container and recycling it.

“Where’s Felix?” Woojin looked around the living room, sensing the missing fox. “He went out for a while,” Seungmin replied, not batting an eye at the alpha. Woojin was used to Seungmin by now, he was a bit ill-tempered, but he knows the witch doesn’t mean any harm, plus he has a soft spot for Jeongin. “Any reason at all?” he sat beside Hyunjin, putting a hand on the beta’s thigh. “He said he needed inspiration for writing lyrics.” Seungmin continued, shrugging his shoulders, closing his eyes to practice a spell. Hyunjin leans on Woojin’s shoulder, cuddling the alpha. Woojin smiles, Hyunjin was always so warm it made him feel at home.

“Why are you guys still here? Don’t you have work?” Woojin turns his head towards the small whiteboard on the wall near the kitchen, reading clearly the schedules of every member of the house. “Jisung? Changbin?”

Jisung and Changbin whose eyes are glued on the tv screen, aggressive button smashing on the controllers on their hands, paused the game. Both looking at the alpha. “We finished up everything yesterday to free up some time today.” Jisung nods, agreeing to what Changbin said. Woojin cocks an eyebrow at them. Jisung speaks up, not needing a word from the alpha. “It’s been a tiring week, and Changbin’s gonna go find a place for his shop.”

Woojin nods running a hand through his soft locks. Feeling two pair of eyes on his face, Woojin turns his head, nodding his head at the two wolves. They were waiting for his approval so they could go back on the game they’re clearly losing. Cute. He smiles softly, putting an arm around Hyunjin who was now stuck to his side like a koala. “How ‘bout my Jinnie~ do you have work today?” feeling the wolf shake his head, Woojin hums. “I checked your schedule last night, looks like you’re free today too.” again he felt Hyunjin shake his head, but now up and down.

He chuckles deeply, eyes finding Seungmin, the witch was transformed. Hair ash white and eyes are a deep shade of violet. “My only class is at 3pm, I’ll be home by 10pm. Don’t wait for me please.” but Woojin ignored his request. He would always wait for Seungmin to come home, at the first night the witch threw a hex at him, he dodged it but the sofa was turned into a rabbit (which they now keep). Seungmin was startled, of course, he got home at around 3am because of council work, dead tired entering the house and seeing a whole ass man magically appearing in front of him (he just didn’t notice the alpha because he was exhausted as hell). Who wouldn’t be shocked?

“Okay.” Seungmin knew his last words were given dirt by Woojin, so he went back to his summoning.

After spending time with the boys at the living room, he would walk to the kitchen and start cooking breakfast for the hungry kids. He wasn’t the best cook; they usually order takeout if they’re lazy but Woojin still tries his best to give the boys a not-so-healthy but full-of-love meals. “Boys, breakfast.” in a blink of an eye, the remaining people in the house gather around the dining table. The bickering never stops. “Where’s Chan?” Hyunjin asks before shoving a spoonful of scrambled eggs down his throat. “He left at around 4am.” Woojin recalls being jerked out of his slumber as he feels Chan’s presence vanishing. The vampire materializes in front of him, “Germany.” and with that Chan was gone.

“I really don’t know how you understand that old dude.” Changbin stated. Jisung who was looking at Changbin beside him nods before locking eyes with the alpha. “Chan is so vague.” Woojin grins. “You guys know Chan, he’s like that.”

“Wait, what does he mean by Germany?” Seungmin who was itching to ask about it finally spoke. “He went to Germany to buy some antiques for his shop” Minho replied. Seungmin was overwhelmed by how much the non-human beings around him know the vampire. Even more than him. “He’ll be back tomorrow.” Woojin reassures them.

After breakfast, he would leave the dishes to Minho and Jisung. Usually Changbin does the dishes but something came up and he had to meet the real estate manager early. Jisung will catch up once he’s done. “I’ll be leaving for the cafe.” with half-assed goodbyes, Woojin drives out of the garage into the bumpy road. He turns on the radio, humming unconsciously along with whatever song comes up.

“Good Morning.” he greets the staff with his usual toothy smile, turning his head towards the customers and giving them a smile. “Good Morning to you guys also.” Johnny walks up the boss, putting a hand around his shoulder as he teases him. “Boss is so handsome kya~” Woojin giggles, shoving the taller away from him. “Idiot.”

“Where’s Jungwoo?” Woojin walks around the counter, checking the machines and pastries along the way. “He’s in the back, fetching some whipped cream.” Woojin opens the cabinet for all the whipped cream cans, it was empty. He then proceeds to the computer they use for stocks and sales. “I already ordered what we need, boss.”

“Wasn’t gonna ask that because I already know you did.” Johnny grins at Woojin’s words, he turns to his heel and disappears inside the kitchen. Woojin proceeds to stand beside Jaehyun who was minding the counter, after handing the customer the buzzer (used for when the order is done) he turns to the boss. “Hey.”

“You alright?” Jaehyun smiles sadly, he knows he can’t hide anything from Woojin. With a sigh, he crosses his arms, looking at Woojin through his lashes. “My mom wants me to go back to the States,” the bell chimes as a customer walks out into the busy street. Jaehyun relaxes upon seeing Woojin’s reassuring smile. “She said she found a job for me there; the benefits were great, and they would provide my housing-”

“Then why are you hesitating?”

“I’m not. I just don’t want to go back.” Woojin felt Jaehyun’s searing stare on his own eyes. The guy was telling the truth. Woojin puts a hand on Jaehyun’s shoulder, “Whatever you want to do. I will support you, okay?”

Woojin genuinely does. He supported Jaehyun ever since they met. The trainee life weighed on him too much, but Woojin was always there to cheer him up, to keep him going. Even Johnny was thankful for the alpha, even though none of the staff knew about his real identity.

“I know you will. Thanks, man.”

…

“Johnny, tell the boys I left early. I ordered some pizza so be sure to give them their share!” pulling on his trench coat, Woojin bid his last goodbye before circling his car. Opening the door to the driver seat, one particular person standing in the corner caught his eye. His long stature leaning against the wall, soft light brown locks falling perfectly right above his eyes. Those dark orbs snapped at Woojin’s direction making contact with the alpha’s. With a smirk, he threw his cigarette on the pavement, crushing it with his black dress shoe. At this moment, Woojin noticed the guy’s overall look.

His face was perfectly framed by the black turtleneck underneath his black overcoat. His skinny-fit black jeans look like they’re about to burst because of his muscular thighs. “Yuta.”

“Woojin.”

The air around them became suffocating, you can feel the extreme aura radiating from both men. They’re eyes not blinking at all. Woojin turns, body fully facing the man. With simultaneous step they fell into each other’s arms, laughing almost maniacally. “Where the fuck have you been, you dumbass!” Woojin pulls away, locking his arm around Yuta’s neck, caging him in his armpit. With his extra hand, he roughly ruffles the man’s hair, both laughing in glee.

“Hey! Come on man! I spent an hour fixing my hair.” Yuta struggles on pulling Woojin’s muscular arm around his neck, he wasn’t suffocating at all, but seeing the blatant stares coming from the strangers walking by, plus the customers coming in and out of the cafe, he had, by all means to be embarrassed. However, knowing Woojin, he can never win against the man. Woojin was obviously stronger than him by a ten-fold. “Woojin, you do know I’m older than you.”

“The elder acknowledged me first.” with a smug look on his face, Woojin lets go of Yuta. “Really? You’re still bringing that up? Fuck you.” keys jingling in the air, out of reflex, Yuta caught it right in time. The frown on his face grew much more darker. “You drive. Let’s go back to the mansion. You disappeared suddenly last week; the boys were worried.” Yuta snickered, puffing out air from his cheeks as he eyes Woojin walking towards the shotgun seat.

“Why are you like this?” the car door shut twice, both pulling on their seatbelts securely. With a chuckle, Woojin shifted comfortably on his seat as Yuta pulls out the driveway. “What do you mean?”

Sneering, Yuta slowly put pressure on the break with his foot, yanking the e-brake as the car stops. He glanced at the rear-view mirror, fixing his hair before turning to Woojin. The glare from the stoplight shining on both their faces. “You’re always bringing that up in every conversation we have.” Woojin only chuckled. “You’re really different.” Yuta releases the e-brake, drawing his eyes back on the road. He could feel Woojin’s curious gaze on his side profile. “You’re still the same idiot as before. But somehow, you’ve changed.”

“The boy who used to be so arrogant and mean, using his father’s position as leverage to look down on the other cubs and wolves. Carelessly causing trouble for the elderly just for the heck of it. Never relying on friends, because he says they’re all the same, they would all just leave him once they benefit from him. Only befriending him because he was the leader’s son.”

Woojin looks out the window, as much as he wanted to ignore the words Yuta was saying. He just couldn’t help but look back at his past. He was really quite an asshole back then. He only brought trouble for his family, not that they don’t mind. They were disappointed in him but had no other choice but to let every bad deed he did to go through. He was the only heir, the only son. It was the only way for him not to rebel and completely run off from the pack. “Even after your whole pack got attacked,” Yuta was a distant relative, his family descended from Japan and they still reside there. Woojin sighed heavily, the blaring horns coming from cars behind him were all muffled by Yuta’s words.

“You still remained the same. Father and mother really thought that incident would change you,” Yuta parked the car in front of the mansion, turning off the engine as he glances at Woojin. “But decades later, after we met in Japan. You changed drastically.” turning his head, Woojin’s eyes met Yuta’s. They stared at each other, as if they were trying to find answers in each other’s eyes. “What changed you? Who changed you? Hyunjin?” Yuta was partly true, Hyunjin did change him. Being the alpha, he had to protect Hyunjin, even if he wasn’t the beta.

But it wasn’t Hyunjin. It wasn’t just Hyunjin.

Yuta knew. He knew right from the start who it was. “Woojin! You’re back early! Oh, is that Yuta?”

“Can you not shout for just one second, Jisung.”

“Well sorry. Minho. I’m not a cold ass bitch like you.”

“Yuta? Yuta’s back!”

“Dum dum, he was just here a week ago.”

“Changbin I hate you.”

“I hate myself too, Hwang.”

“Where’s Seungmin and Felix?”

“They went to fetch Jeongin from school.”

“Ohhhh Jeongin’s coming over!! Yay!”

With one last fleeting smile, Woojin turned his back on Yuta. Walking briskly towards his family.

Yuta smiled in defeat, shoving his hands inside his pockets. Mumbling underneath the wind, “It wasn’t just one person.”

—Changbin and Jisung’s Daily Life (⅔ of that spicy sauce)

“Jisung, wake up. We need to go.”

“Five more minutes, Binnie.” sighing heavily, Chan

Changbin sat on the edge of the bed. Five minutes ago, he was in Jisung’s current. Sleeping soundly and not wanting to be bothered in his room, but apparently the alarm went off and he had responsibilities. Jisung groans, moving his lifeless body onto Changbin’s lap. With light and soft strokes, Changbin’s hand runs through Jisung’s fluffy locks. Out of all the boys, Jisung has the softest and most fluffiest hair. Minho would come in second. He glances down at Jisung fondly, it’s been a while since the incident happened. Although Jisung seemed to be back to his normal state, Changbin can’t help but worry. Jisung is his best friend, they were both found and aided by Woojin and Hyunjin from different circumstances but both of them were scarred heavily, physically and mentally.

Ever since then, they were inseparable. And to add the fact that they both enjoy music; it made their fondness to each other grow deeper. It made them understand and express each other much clearer than before.

As much as he wants to lie back down on his own bed, or better yet cuddle with Jisung. Like he said, Changbin had responsibilities, and Jisung was part of it. The songs won’t write, compose and produce themselves. Changbin always thought of asking Seungmin if he had any spells that would work that way, but he was too afraid to ask. And Chan would probably tell him it was just a lame excuse to slack off and not do any actual work. “Ji. We have to work.” It took him 10 minutes to push Jisung out of his bed, pushing the wolf towards the bathroom to wash up.

Entering the living room, he was welcomed by Woojin who seemed surprised enough not to see them in their usual state. “We got home by 5am, I’m tired but otherwise okay. Ji had it rough yesterday. The artists won’t cooperate well and demanded a lot of changes,” he sat down on the dining table, ushering a brief ‘thank you’ to Hyunjin who handed him a plateful. “You know Ji has a bad temper, and that shit stresses him the fuck out. I offered to help since I’m only handling the computer. But-“

“Knowing that dumbass, he wanted to do his task on his own.” Seungmin appeared beside him, pulling a chair on his ride side. Changbin handed him a glass of juice. “Thanks” he nodded at the witch before proceeding to eat. Jisung comes down from his room after a while. Changbin waited for him to finish his meal and then they left in a haste.

“Please tell me we’re not working with the same people as yesterday?” Jisung whined, taking a sip on his iced coffee as they sped across the city. The car came to a halt, Changbin glanced at the stoplight before turning to Jisung. “It’s just until today, Ji. Please just bear with it.” with his big eyes, Jisung stared at Changbin’s side profile as the man starts driving again. Changbin didn’t say he hated it. But he knew for sure that the wolf was just as annoyed as him.

Changbin never really showed he was struggling. He never once complained even though he was having a hard time, he just stood there smiling. Even comforting the people who had it way better than him. Changbin may look dark and mysterious, but he’s a big softie. He always looked unapproachable and cold, but he’s actually the opposite. He always says he likes ‘dark’ but that’s only his preference in music.

Changbin cares and loves each and every one of the members equally. No questions asked.

“We finish it up early today, then we can go get some pasta. How about that?”

“Are you gonna pay?”

“Even if I say you pay or we split the bill, I always end up paying.”

“Because you’re older.”

“Only on our human birth certificates.”

“You love me.”

“No.” Changbin closes the car door, even though Jisung can be an annoying bitch, he still stops in front of their building, waiting for the younger to come out. Joining him, they enter the place. Greeting the guard as they clamor in the lift. “Are they there already?” Changbin fished out his phone. “Nah, their manager said they’d be here around lunch.” Jisung heaves out a sigh of relief, they had plenty of time to work on some stuff without someone yelling at their ears, feeling like they know everything about producing. Noticing a much larger hand grasp his own, Jisung looks up, his frown turning into a cheeky smile as he sees Changbin’s worried face. “I’m okay, Binnie. It’s just until today, like you said.” Changbin nods, knowing Jisung was telling the truth so he wouldn’t worry much.

Upon entering the studio, they get to work almost instantly. No words were exchanged as they up the equipment, making sure everything works perfectly. As Jisung and Changbin sat down in front of the computer, they turn into working mode. There was no a fun and friendly aura between them. They conversed and acted professionally. “Come in.” twirling a pen on his hand, Jisung responded to the soft knock on their door. Both boys not batting an eye on the clients. Jisung stands up and ushers them in, he didn’t have much of a choice either.

Changbin silently observed how Jisung’s face contorted into somewhat a casual smile. He almost scoffed because Jisung doesn’t know how to do that. The wolf was annoyed. Changbin could hear his thoughts and none of them were positive. As the clients settled in, they began demanding some changes again. Asking Jisung if this or that was possible. And Jisung responded with much gusto. Changbin grinned. No matter how rude and arrogant the people they work with are, Jisung really loves music. When he starts talking about music-related stuff, you can’t help but stop and stare in awe. ‘He’s a genius.’ Chan once said. And he was right. Jisung is an amazing person. His past may be dark and cruel but that never affected his passion for music. Not even one bit.

As their eyes found each other, both boys break into a small smile. Turning back to what they have been doing, Changbin rearranging pieces on the computer and Jisung hearing out the concerns of the artists.

“Let’s make music!”

—Minho and Felix’s Daily Life (Dance idiots, I mean, prodigies)

“Lix, are you coming with me tonight?”

“Hongdae?”

“Yeah. I kinda miss it.”

“Sure. Let’s get ready then.”

Dusk fell upon the mansion. The orange gradient looked like a painting as Felix stares outside, waiting for Minho to pull up beside him. “Get in you idiot.” Felix pouted. Minho always ruined the mood. “You’re such a bitch.” as he slides in the shotgun seat, Minho flashes him a smirk. “Thanks, I know. Now put on your seatbelt.” he did what he was told. Minho might come out as bossy (well he is), but he just lowkey cares for his friends’ safety. “Aren’t we a bit too early?”

Felix glances at Minho, ah. This man’s side profile will always be so fucking amazing. “Let’s stop by Changbin and Jisung’s building. They might have a vacant dance room we can use for rehearsal.” Felix smiled, responding with a deep ‘yeah’.

Minho is just usually at home or hanging out with the boys at their workplaces. Busking was just some sort of a hobby for him, he wanted to try it and he did. He then got hooked by the feeling of performing in front of others. Sure, scouts come up here and there, but he was just contented on what he was doing. Being an idol is on a whole different level. He lowkey hates it because he might not have enough time to spend with his new family, and when he says ‘spending time’ it means he just teases and annoys every member on a daily basis. Especially Jisung. They’re always seen sticking to each other like glue at the mansion. Jisung was always fun to tease according to Minho. The wolf gets mad, and when Jisung gets annoyed, he looks so adorable. Making Minho tease him more.

Felix on the other hand was getting busy. Like now, he gets invited by Minho to go busking. they were originally partnering in crime, Felix moved to Seoul with Chan a bit earlier than Minho. They met the same day as Minho came from Japan with Chan. And they just decided to get and apartment somewhere in Seoul and live together. The only past time they had was visiting Chan at the shop and well, busking. But after moving in with the rest of the pack, Felix has gotten busier. He mostly works with Jisung and Changbin at the studio. Offering all the help he can. Writing songs and sometimes producing music. The two wolves helped him a lot and he was forever grateful for everyone in the mansion for treating him like family.

Arriving safely at the building, Minho proceeds on hitting the button to Changbin and Jisung’s studio. Drawing back his hand inside his pocket as he stares at their reflection on the elevator door. “You alright, Lix?” Felix nods, profusely wiping the sweat pooling on his palms. “I’m just giddy because its been a while since I last performed with you.” Minho chuckles, putting an arm around Felix’s broad shoulders. He pulls the fox closer to him, tickling his sides. “Me too.”

They both got off their floor, sauntering towards the door to the studio. As they open it, they were both welcomed by Changbin and Jisung sitting in front of the computer. Jisung whips his head back, and smiles. He stands up, placing a hand on Changbin’s shoulder. The wolf looks up at Jisung and then looks back at the two additional people. “Let’s take 5, okay?” holding up an okay sign with his free hand, Jisung open the door to the recording booth. Ushering the artist to the sofa on the left side of the studio, along with their managers and staff. “What brings you guys here?” Felix and Minho sat on the small love couch beside the computer, almost instantly clinging onto one another. The artist who was just recording a few moments ago can’t help but stare at the additional eye candy. Changbin and Jisung were already overwhelmingly attractive. but the two flower boys had rendered her speechless, even the female staff that was with her. Jisung notices the meaningful gaze at their position, he lets out a soft chuckle. Sending the girls into a frenzy. “Do you know any vacant dance rooms?” Minho knows his effect, but Felix was a little bit similar to Hyunjin. He was naïve. “Told ya.” Jisung smiles at Changbin’s remarks. “Yeah, I can call the owner. You boys go ahead and practice. Geez, if you always come and practice here then why don’t you just go and rent the place.” Jisung scratches his head, crossing his arms in disappointment afterwards.

Minho and Felix excitedly spring up from their seat, tackling the two wolves with hugs and kisses. “Alright alright! Now go!” shoving them out the studio, Jisung shouts one last favor before the two vanish into the elevator. “Don’t forget to clea—And they’re gone.”

Changbin giggles, pulling Jisung back to his side. “They clean up, Ji.”

“I know.”

…

“Lix, your arm is not straight enough.”

“Like this?”

“No no. Here-“ Felix’s tense muscles relax underneath Minho’s touch. He had been nervous and stiff because it has been a while since they last danced together. Minho notices Felix’s awkwardness and decides to take a 10-minute break so the fox could loosen up. “How’s the song you’ve been writing?” Minho smiles as Felix’s expression turns from guilt into excitement. “Oh yeah! I brought it with me! Can you check it out?” he nods and chuckles at Felix who stood up almost instantly, dashing towards his bag on the corner.

Felix always wanted to be a songwriter. And being praised and acknowledged by the music geniuses, naming Changbin, Jisung and Chan, it meant the world to the fox. He was actually really good. His songs were full of meaning and some of them were from his personal experiences. The sole reason why Changbin and Jisung gladly accepted him as part of the producing team.

As they talk about the song for a while, Minho stands up and turns on the music. They finished creating the choreography right before the break and it was time to practice it along with the music.

Both of their playful expressions vanish. Focusing on their reflections on the mirrored walls. Their eyes were full of passion and concentration, as the room was filled with a familiar tune. All at once their body fell in sync with each other.

Much more like Jisung and Changbin, Music, to them, was like turning back the clock, traveling and returning to a previous life full of agony, joy and sadness. They embraced the music and in turn the music took control. Both found themselves in a different world. A world of mystery. Mysteries they would love to discover.

 

Their movements flowed with a dazzling grace that took away the breath of every person in their soon-to-be street audience. Both boys could feel their soul become one with the music. Unleashing their emotions into the dance. They needed this as badly as they needed to breathe. The music came to a halt, the room was soon filled with heavy pants from Felix and Minho. “You’re still amazing as ever, Minho.” Felix fell on the floor, Minho followed suit, falling on top of Felix’s sweaty body. Minho chuckled loudly, his voice echoing around the four walls of the room, sending vibrations onto Felix’s figure. “I can say the same thing, Lix.”

“I wish Hyunjin was here.” Minho sits up, pulling Felix. “Yeah, it would be amazing if he performs with us.” Felix gulps as he sees Minho’s face contort into something… evil. “I have the most genius plan on doing so.”

“Please, no.”

“Oh yes, Felix. Yes, indeed.”

—Hyunjin’s Daily Life (Jack of all trades Hyunjin)

One last click of the camera and Hyunjin relaxes on the bar stool. Three people run up to him at the same time, fixing up his makeup and outfit. He smiles at them, making the three of them blush. Gullible idiot. “Hyunjin? How about we take a break so we can proceed to a different setting?” Hyunjin beams at the camera man and the rest of the staff, bowing in the process. “Okay!” the staff guides him towards the dressing room, offering him some drinks and snacks. He declines politely, fetching his phone inside his backpack.

“You manager is not here?” the make up artists ask. Hyunjin nods and pouts. “He just left me here hmp.” she giggles, moving her hands skillfully unto Hyunjin’s face. The stylist comes in and shows him the next set of clothes. Hyunjin changes into them and walks out the waiting room, his eyes grew wide at the new set. Tons of flowers decorated the set, and on the center was a king-like chair. “This set is so pretty!” he can’t help but admire the vivid shades of flowers around the place, the cameraman asks him to sit on the chair. And once he did, everyone in the studio grew quiet and stared in awe at the King sitting on his throne.

Being the gullible handsome idiot, he is, Hyunjin smiles prettily. Reaching out his hand, Hyunjin places one of the flowers in between his fingers, his face cornering in to smell the scent. With eyes closed, his side profile was majestic. And it was definitely the perfect shot. No cues were issued at all, the cameraman proceeds on taking the shots, shaking his head in disbelief on how amazing the model is.

“Thank you for your hard work!” closing the car door, Hyunjin gives the staff who sent him off, one last fleeting glass before Woojin pulls into the highway. “Was the shoot fun?” Hyunjin beams and begins to tell his fun day to Woojin, which the alpha gladly listened too. He always does. Hyunjin has this very puppy-like look on his face when talks about how exciting his day went by, and Woojin was never sick of it. “Do I have another schedule for today?”

Woojin hums in response. “So there is?” Hyunjin breaks into a fit of whine. “I’m tired~” Woojin grins, taking a right turn. “Eh? Where are we going?”

“How about we go stretch some muscles?” with a small smile on his face, Woojin pulls up in front of a dance studio, leaving the dumbfounded Hyunjin to process what he just said. “YAY!” with a light chuckle, Woojin pushes the door open. allowing the overly excited Hyunjin to come in. Woojin already booked a room, he knew Hyunjin would be stressed out from work and the wolf had a long day ahead of him. It was his duty as Hyunjin’s manager to take care of the boy.

According to the brands Hyunjin had worked with, he was definitely perfect. With his honey-dripping looks, his long stature, his physique, the boy was beyond perfect. And to add the fact that he was an amazing dancer? The complete package. Seungmin on the other hand had one rude thing to add ‘He was an utter and complete idiot’ no one in the mansion spoke a word after Seungmin said it. Not even Jeongin. Hyunjin is a utter and complete idiot. Not that it was a flaw, weirdly enough it added him a bit of charm. When the ladies think that he doesn’t really notice their looks, they fall harder for the guy.

But it was not all rainbows and bright lights for Hyunjin. Whenever they move from one country to another, the friends he made on the way made him feel like he only had the looks. Especially when he went to Korea. Scouts were always swarming around him on a daily basis, some of them even came from big companies. He did refuse every single one of the offers, but that was not the case in the first few weeks in Seoul. He had accepted one of the auditions. Hyunjin woke up early and prepared for his audition. He had a dance piece, a song, and a rap prepared.

“He’s so handsome.”  
“Companies only look for good faces these days.”  
“I bet he doesn’t have any talent.”  
“Well, he could only be in a group for the eye candy.”

Those words coming from his fellow auditionees dawned on him. Because their words were true. He did not have any talent at all. He cannot sing or dance nor rap. They were right, he was just another pretty face. That’s why he quit even before they get to contract signing.

You would think that he gave up and just let those words bring him down. You would think that he just quit and accepted his fate. But no, Hyunjin wanted to prove them wrong. He wanted to prove everyone in that audition room that he was not just a visual. He started practicing dancing, he learned rapping on his own but Changbin and Jisung guided him all the way. And now both wolves acknowledged his talent, even saying they would surpass both of them.

Hyunjin may be a big softie, always clinging to his members, always teasing them. But he was as hard-working as the next guy. His heart is pure.

Woojin stares in awe as Hyunjin’s face turns into something mesmerizing as he dances. The sweat glistening down his face and neck, the way his body moves fluidly along the music. He was definitely a sight to see and Woojin can’t help but say…

“You’re amazing, Hyunjin.”

—Seungmin’s Daily Life (Witch photographer with Puppy Visuals)

 

To be honest, Seungmin’s life before the mansion was plain and boring. He would wake up, get ready for school. And once inside the campus, he had to deal with council work and at the same time his classes. By the end of the day, his social battery will be more than drained, he would stop by at Chan’s shop. Not that he helps out there, he just sits and nags the vampire all day.

But everything changed when the fire nation attacked, JOKE.

Everything changed when he met Jeongin. His world suddenly grew way larger than before. Seungmin had a hard time adjusting to it, but everyone helped him to do so. He was lowkey in denial at first, but he really was thankful for the pack.

“For the last time, Hwang. I don’t want to move in with you guys.” Seungmin rolls his eyes at Hyunjin. The wolf was all over his face as soon as he entered the mansion, he held the urge to punch the wolf on his gut because he knew he would be the only one in pain. Seungmin snaps his fingers and Hyunjin’s vision goes blurry, and when he regained his sight, the witch was no longer in front of him. Turning to his heel, Hyunjin dashes across the hall, right in time to jump Seungmin.

But he fell on the fall instead, face first. Rubbing his injured nose, Hyunjin whines. Plopping down beside Changbin who cooed the poor wolf. “Yeah, why don’t you want to move in? We have plenty of room here.” before Jisung can finish his statement, Chan cut him off.

“It’s no use, Ji. Seungmin’s not the type of person to live with other people. Especially you rowdy bunch.” a unison of ‘Hey’ was said before Woojin entered the living room. His usual smile plastered on his face. “What do you guys mean? Seungmin’s moving here today.”

The room went still and silent. 6 pair of heads turn towards Woojin’s position. Seungmin snorts, failing to hold back his laughter. A few moments later, he burst into a fit of cackles, slapping his thigh as he let out all his pent-up emotions. “You should see the look on your pathetic faces!” Seungmin found himself trapped in an embrace with different members trying to get ahold of him as he laughs. “You’re such a jerk!” Felix whined, lightly slapping Seungmin’s arm. “I don’t know why I’m friends with you, to be honest.” Chan shakes his head; he was the only one who didn’t jump on Seungmin. Well, Woojin on the other hand was chuckling silently on the side.

“Did you bring your stuff?” Woojin asks. Seungmin nods, the boys removed themselves from Seungmin, fixing each other’s clothes. All eyes lock onto Seungmin magically producing a miniature briefcase. “What the hell is that.” Minho moved in closer to take a look at the small bag. His teeth protruding from his lips, ‘that’s actually really cute’ Seungmin thought. “It’s my stuff.” with a twirl of his finger, the mini case grew into a regular sized one.

“You may be an asshole, but your magic is amazing.”

“Thank you, giggles.” Seungmin responds proudly, opening the briefcase.

“You’re welco—HOLD UP WHAT THE HELL”

Hyunjin bolts upright from his seat almost shoving his face near Seungmin’s busy hands. “Is that a trolley—WOOJIN HE’S WRENCHING A WHOLE ASS TROLLEY FROM HIS BRIEFCASE---” Jisung cannot believe his eyes, Hyunjin’s reaction was exactly what he’s feeling right now. How is that even possible? Seungmin laughs, “You dum dum. I’m witch.”  
For the past 2 hours, Seungmin has been pulling out his stuff and equipment from the briefcase. The rest go used to it as time passes by but Hyunjin is still going on about how Seungmin pulls out a cabinet full of books. “Can I fit? Can I? Can I?” pushing Hyunjin’s overly-excited face from his face, Seungmin closes the briefcase right after he pulled out the last spell book. He snaps his fingers and the briefcase vanishes. Leaving Hyunjin pouting. “You can. But you’re just gonna fall into a complete and infinite oblivion, floating around lifelessly as you dwell deep on your inhumane thoughts.”

“Seungmin, stop scaring the poor pup.” Chan warns, rubbing his hand against Hyunjin who threw himself at him. “What a big baby.” Hyunjin made faces at Seungmin but cowered against Chan’s chest when the witch pulls out the briefcase once again. As the witch playfully approaches him, he detaches himself from Chan and starts sprinting out the backyard. Looking back to see if the witch was after him, he trips on his own foot, falling on the grass.

Hyunjin groans and flips himself, his eyes grew wide and face grew paler, Seungmin was just a few inches away from him, a grin etched on the witch’s face. His eyes falter onto the witch’s hand where he sees the briefcase wide open. Normally the inside of it would look like any other box but it was pitch black, almost like a void sucking him in.

“HELP!!!”

The rest of the pack let Seungmin have his fun, but Woojin had to step in once half of Hyunjin’s body disappeared inside the briefcase. With tears on his eyes, Hyunjin wobbled, Changbin supported the disheveled wolf with his weight. He tried hard not to laugh. “You’re such a fucking dick.”

The briefcase disappears once again from Seungmin’s hand as he turns to face the poor wolf. He laughs maniacally and shakes his head. “And you said you’re the beta?”

“H-Hey!”

The rest of the day consisted of Seungmin fixing up his stuff. Woojin had already decorated his room, actually, Changbin stepped in line to manage everything. The last time Woojin helped with the interior design, it looked a teen’s room going through an emo phase. “We’ll have the basement cleaned up by next week. I contacted Ria and she said she’ll be here by Monday.” Seungmin nods, placing the last piece of shirt neatly on top of his clothing. He closes the cabinet door and walks out the closet with Woojin on his trail. He just agreed with whatever Woojin told him, not that he had a choice. The alpha insisted on doing so.

But before he could close the closet door, some figures pop out of nowhere, dashing inside the closet. “Wow. These are really dandy clothing you got here, Seungs.” Hyunjin carelessly opens one of the cabinets and rummages through Seungmin’s coats and long sleeves. “You even ironed them out before hiding them.”

“I always thought you had an adorable sense of fashion.” Jisung chimes in pulling his hoodie over his head to wear one of Seungmin’s coat. Changbin who was busy going through Seungmin’s shoes, turns around and points at Jisung, all the same time laughing at the wolf. “Ji! Haha! You look so small in Seungs coat omg.” Jisung pouts as hastily takes off the coat and throws it at Changbin’s face. “Then how about you try it!”

“I’m too buff for this.” Changbin snickers, proudly rolling up his sleeves and flexing in front of the boys. “Minho and I have been going to the gym,” the idiot mentioned was now standing beside the other idiot. He rolls up his sleeves and does an X symbol with Changbin’s arm. “Yep. You know you gotta be fit to gain some ladies.”

“Hey! I have abs!” Felix pulls up his shirt and flexes his abdomen. Jisung felt challenged, he too pulled up his shirt to show his pack. “Me too.”

“My thighs are thick.” Hyunjin adds, placing his foot onto the chair in the center of the close, flexing his thighs as he makes a handsome face.

Seungmin sighs, turning to Woojin and Chan who was watching the boys with fatherly gazes and smiles. “You deal with this bullshit every day?”

“Hey. You deal with it too ever since you met them.” Seungmin sighs once more at Chan’s remarks. The vampire was correct, he does handle with this nonsense every day. “But,” gazing back at Woojin, the alpha gives him a toothy smile. “You like it, don’t you?”

He avoids Woojin’s eyes and crosses his arms against his chest. Chan smiles, he knew Seungmin for a long time now. The witch was a bit of a bitch and was always so full of himself. But other than that, he was a caring person. He hates violence. Hates humans being hurt.

He may come out blunt and arrogant, but in reality, Seungmin is a nice person. Once you get to know him. Chan rarely saw the witch smile, like the genuine type of smile. But these days, he could see it more often, often than normal.

“No, I don’t.” Seungmin turns to his heel, trying his best to hide the smile on his face. ‘I love you idiots.’ even if it was just a murmur, the rest of the boys knew Seungmin meant well.

“PILE UP ON THE BED!” with Jisung’s annoying voice, Woojin pulls Seungmin, shoving him onto the bed. “NO! I JUST FIXED THE SHEET—OH FOR FUCK’S SAKE! YOU BASTARDS WILL PAY FOR THIS!”

Hyunjin’s distant scream can be heard. “NO! NOT THE BRIEFCASE!”


	11. The 11 Families

The 11 Families

It’s been two months since Seungmin moved into the mansion with the rest of the pack. It definitely took a lot of persuading to get him to agree with the boys. Woojin on the other hand, wasn’t saying anything at all, the only time he urged Seungmin to move in with them is when they sat together for dinner. 

The look on the wolves faces was priceless once Seungmin declared he was gonna move in with them. They bribed everything they had just to get the witch to live with them, but no matter how many times they present Felix and Hyunjin as an offering, Seungmin refuses (although he really thought the offer was quite convincing). 

“So what did Woojin offer to you?”

“For the last fucking time, Felix, he offered nothing! I came here on my own accord, so stop pestering me.” with one last nasty glance, Seungmin went back to typing on his laptop. Felix pouted, but he didn’t want to concede defeat just yet. “The others even betrayed me and Hyunjin just to get you to live here and you refused. But with only a word from Woojin, you come running here with your weird ass briefcase that almost ate Hyunjin. Hmp." after his pity talk, Felix rose up from his seat stomping away towards the kitchen with his arms crossed. Felix was always the sulky type of person. Chan eyes Seungmin who was grinning ever so smugly. 

"You're not a witch. You're a devil." Hyunjin clicked his tongue in disbelief.

"You're not a wolf. You're an idiot." Jisung and Changbin cackled. "Daaaamn. Apply cold water on that burn bro!" Changbin blurted, holding his stomach as both him and Jisung fell on the carpeted floor. "Why are you so good at comebacks…" Seungmin shrugged at Hyunjin's question. He looked back at all the times were he got dissed by Chan with just a few words. 

Seungmin is an asshole. But Chan is a much bigger asshole.

"Anyway, none of you can still convince Jeongin to move in?" Minho asks, leaning on Jisung's shoulder. The rest of them looked at each other with curious eyes. But with a few turns of their heads, they came to the conclusion that no one succeeded. Felix walks back in the kitchen, his resentment towards the witch long forgotten as he sat in between Seungmin's legs. "What you guys talkin' bout?" 

"How none of us won over Jeongin to move in." Felix's mouth formed into a small 'oh', he nods his head and frowns after realizing he too hasn’t won over the boy. “I did try to bribe him with snacks.” Felix murmurs, munching on a sandwich he made. In one blink of an eye, Jisung was kneeling in front of him, mouth wide open. Felix offers him the sandwich and Jisung happily takes a bite before returning beside Minho. “His mom wants Jeongin to live with us, right, Chan?” Woojin puts a hand on Chan’s thigh making the guy smile meekly, “Yeah.” 

“Really? When did she say it?” Seungmin straightens up from his seat, placing his hands of Felix’s shoulders, tapping them rhythmically. Thinning his lips, Chan huffs out air from his nose. “When I visited his place.” he purposely emphasized the word ‘I’. As a response, he got big grins and cute faces from everyone. Including Woojin. His stern look was overpowered by his fondness. He shakes his head and looked down briefly before breaking into a fit of chuckles. “Alright alright. I’m sorry I didn’t let you guys come with me.” 

They all laugh. “Wait, how did she say it to you? While we’re leaving the house? When did she say it?” 

Chan chuckles awkwardly, scratching his nape as he avoids everyone's gaze. “Well, she didn’t actually say it.” 

“What do you mean?” Chan sighs quietly. “I kinda read her mind.” 

“You what?” 

Woojin smiles. He knows about it. Chan tells him everything. He trusts the vampire as much as the vampire trusts him. Apparently, after gate crashing Jeongin and Chan’s supposed “home visit”, while they were heading out one by one outside, Chan made eye contact with Jeongin’s mom. And it’s as if all her thoughts flow simultaneously in his head. The sole thought that actually caught his attention was ‘I really wish my Jeongin would spend more time with you guys. I don’t even mind if you all move in together. I’d be glad.’

“So you just read her mind? Dude! That’s Jeongin’s mom!”

Chan raises his hands, stopping Changbin’s assumptions midway. “Hang on. I didn’t purposely read her mind. I told you a couple of times, that’s not possible for even the strongest vampires.” Hyunjin shifts from his seat, attaching himself more to Woojin. His eyes finding Chan’s, opening his mouth to ask the question: “Then how?”

“You guys know I can only read minds when that certain person gives me access to their memories and thoughts. However, that doesn’t mean I can read everything. I can only hear some random thoughts and those thoughts that are just on the surface of their brains.” Taking a deep breath, Chan stood up, fetching his phone near the TV before plopping back down on his seat. “It’s like she purposely allowed you to hear her thoughts? Or she just unconsciously let you hear them.” Woojin eyes Chan curiously. The vampire said the same thing. Although, he wasn’t quite sure himself if that was the case. “No one would know. Only Auntie can answer that question.” the room went still and silent. Breaking the silence, Minho spoke up. “We can rule out the assumption that his parents did not let him live with us.” Chan nodded. Crossing his arms, Woojin slumped on his seat. “That’s actually the last one. We have not idea why he doesn’t want to live here.” everyone else agreed with the alpha. Jeongin never told them the reason why. He would always avoid answer the follow up question ‘why?’

“Not even you, Woojin?” Hyunjin assumed that the sole person who could convince Jeongin was Woojin. He’s the alpha and almost like the oldest member of the family. 6 pair of eyes, excluding Woojin, stared at Seungmin. The witch gave each of them a dirty look. “Get your stinking eyes off of me or else… The suitcase?” shivering across the room was Hyunjin, his face was pale and he was shaking against Woojin’s chest. Seungmin held his chin high, feeling like he won the world cup. Going back to the topic. Woojin had no chance also. Unlike the other boys, he did not bribe nor push the boy to move in. He sometimes, almost casually just brings it up and when he feels like the Jeongin was getting uncomfortable with the topic, he would brush it off and move on.

He didn’t want the boy to feel obliged to move in with them just because Seungmin was there. 

They ran out of ideas and assumptions. And eventually they drop the topic, Woojin offered to order some pizza and chicken. Food always kept them away from such heavy topics.

“But hey guys. Did you hear what Chan said earlier?” Jisung managed to utter the question before taking another big bite from his pizza, his cheeks bulge with food. He almost resembled a squirrel. “Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Seungmin looked at the wolf in disgust, rolling his eyes when Jisung flips him off. “What was it?” Chan tilted his head curiously, he waited for Jisung to answer Felix’s question. Their eyes shifted from Jisung to Minho who instead answered the question. 

“He called Jeongin’s mom ‘Auntie’.” 

If it was possible for a vampire to blush, Chan would be red as the blood he was drinking. Oh god was he so embarrassed. He hadn’t realized that word slipped out from his mouth, and how the hell did they even managed to catch that with such a heavy subject matter? And alas, the teasing began. It was unbelievable that a vampire like Chan will never be taken seriously in that mansion. I mean, people feared him. Strong beings heard terrifying rumors about the ancient vampire.

All of them would have their jaws on the floor with the scene that was unfolding.

“You guys are utter dick-nuggets. I’m gonna murder you all with a trowel.”

-

The cold winter breeze hummed outside the shop. With his head hung long, Chan sat behind the counter, a half-empty flask of blood on his hand. As the door swung open, a familiar waft of human blood came in contact with his nose, not just any human. Chan’s calm face turned firm as he heard a voice that annoyed him to bits decades ago. “Hey, Channie Chan!” his eyebrows twitched in annoyance. He stood up, coming into view of 3 people. Two of which he was unfamiliar with. 

With a bat of his eyes the door instantly locked with a subtle ‘click’ making the 2 new faces look back. “Kazuo.” the man laughed, he was used to Chan’s attitude towards him, but he could at least hide his utter disgust towards him. 

Ignoring the vampire, Kazuo went around the counter, sitting down like a boss. When he was about to put up his foot on the table, he received a very terrifying gaze from the vampire. “Woah woah. Alright, geez.” he threw his hands up in defeat, signalling the two boys to come sit down with him. Chan eyed the two identical faces as they walk past him sitting down beside Kazuo, both of them staring at him like he was antique piece too, well technically he is. 

With a heavy sigh, Chan proceeded to the fridge, shoving his flask inside. “Any drinks?” his voice had the most unpleasant and unwelcoming tone ever. The guests couldn’t feel at least an ounce of hospitality from his actions. They were unwanted and Chan was shoving it in their faces.

“Nah. Don’t want to piss you off some more.” thinning his lips Chan sighed, now trying his best to glance at the ‘guests’. “I insist.” Kazuo chuckles, irking Chan’s nerves even more. “We’ll have some tea, right boys?” the two boys nodded in unison before turning back their heads to Chan, almost melting him with their curious stares. “Ah, yes boys. Stare all you can. That’s a very ancient and powerful vampire right there. You don’t often see that in this light and day.” If he had Seungmin’s hexing powers, Chan would’ve had the 3 ‘guests’ throw up cockroaches the moment they stepped in the shop. After tea was served, Chan sat on the opposite side of the table facing them. He rested his elbows on the table, staring directly into Kazuo’s eyes. Kazuo shivered discreetly, he didn’t want to show the twins nor Chan that he was afraid of the latter. “What do you want?”

He smirked, taking a sip of the tea before placing it back down on the table. Kazuo glanced at the twins beside him. “That’s really how you talk to an old pal?” Chan furrowed his eyebrows. “As far as I can remember, we were never pals, Kazuo. I stayed at your grandfather's’ dojo for a few decades and that was it. We were never friends, nor acquaintances.” Kazuo did an action where he pretended being shot in the heart, he pouted still gripping his chest. “Man, sugar coat your words just a little bit, okay? You’re too harsh.” Chan shrugged, he stood up and turned his back to get a fresh new flask in the fridge. 3 pairs of eyes bore on his back, taking his time leisurely opening the cap and swigging down one mouthful of blood. He turned to his heel and saw the amazed faces from the boys. “Woah, that’s really scary. So cool.” one of the twins who has a significantly higher voice than the other stared at his mouth in surprise. Chan brought his hand up to his mouth and wiped the blood that obviously ran down his chin.

“Is that really blood? Do you harvest it from people you attack? Where do you hide the bodies? I want to see.” the same twin who spoke earlier floundered about in his seat, his eyes sparked with excitement. Chan slumped in his chair, he placed the flask on the table and played with the lid with his right hand. He stared deeply at the boy. “First of all, those are corpses not some kind of animals at a zoo. Second, I don’t attack people, that’s against the law--” lifting up a finger he halted the boy on his words. “The human law and the supernatural beings law. And lastly, please don’t say the word ‘harvest’. You make it sound like I own a farm made of human corpses.” 

The irksome twin finally shuts up, but when Chan was lulled into a false sense of security, the other one speaks up. His voice and attitude far more different than the other. “So are you born a bloodhound?” the color on Kazuo’s face vanished, he straightened up from his seat and smacked the twin hard on the back of his head. “Ow! What the hell!” he scowled at Kazuo but his expression grew curious as he sees the horrified look on the latter’s face. 

Lights flickered inside the shop and soon enough they were engulfed in darkness. The cold winter breeze roared outside the shop. The temperature grew more suffocating and colder. “Do you ever shut up, Vaughn?” He cautiously turns to the vampire. Piercing red blood eyes bore on his face, his eyes falters down Chan’s canine teeth. Kazuo swallows the lump on his throat. He was too reckless. He should’ve given more warnings to the twins before visiting.

Even though Chan acts indifferent towards him, the vampire respects his family, especially his grandfather. However, Chan could turn his back against them and kill each and every member of their family with just his deadly stare. Kazuo stand up and bows, pushing the heads of the twins along with his as he manages to shout an apology. He turns to his heel, dragging the twins to the door. 

SLAM! The door shuts right before he could reach out for the doorknob. He lets go of the twins, clasping the knob on both his hands. He twists and turns, he nudges the door with his shoulder but it was sealed shut. Ah, that’s when he knew he was screwed. Encountering Chan in an open area with a lot of people walking around is still dangerous. But being locked inside a room with the ranging vampire? Suicide is the only escape. 

Kazuo musters up his courage. “Chan, I apologize on behalf of the twins. Please open the door.” As he turns around, the twins hurriedly hide behind him. Just like he predicted, Chan was already in front of him. His expression was cold and bland, but the searing color of his eyes were enough to say he was infuriated. “I’ll open it once those brats apologize.” the three of them flinched in fright as Chan emphasized the word ‘brats’.

The twins shiver in fear as they take a step forward, bowing their heads. “We’re sorry!” they didn’t waste a second when the door shot open, the twins stumbled to freedom. Kazuo wanted to turn to his heel and sprint out of the shop, but his head was telling him otherwise. It wasn’t the best option. “I’m really sorry about those two. Let’s talk again tomorrow.” Chan who was still in angry vampire mode, snickered. “Just you.” 

Kazuo nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Just me tomorrow.” he turned to his heel. Sighing in relief as soon as he stepped outside the shop. That scared the living shit out of him. He remembered the times he used to tease Chan and get traumatized afterwards. Really, that man is blood-curdling.

As he stood there to calm down his racing heart, there he saw Seungmin crossing the road towards his direction. He must be visiting Chan. 

Seungmin looked both ways before jogging to the other side. His eyes land on Kazuo for a second before travelling to two identical figures near a black sedan. They were both shaking in fear and was pale as a sheet. They looked like they just saw a ghost. “Not a ghost, I believe.” sighing, he shakes his head and walks towards the door. He abruptly stopped feeling a hand on his arm. “Woah there. I won’t go in there if I were you. Chan is on his kill-mode.” Kazuo tried to hide his fear behind a laugh but failed miserably as the witch stares at him blankly before brushing off his grip. He cleared his throat. “What did you do?”

His eyes widen. “I didn’t do anything! I swear!” Seungmin faced him. “Really? Then why do they look like that?” he points at the twins, now sitting on the pavement. “It was an accident.” 

Seungmin sighs one last time, he turns to his back and mutters “It better be.”

The door slammed shut The three of them heard muffled shouting inside the shop. Kazuo prayed to all the Gods for Seungmin’s safety, as much as he hates his attitude, Seungmin was a good friend. 

And he didn’t want him to die just there. Oh God, it was like he went inside a cage with a hungry and pissed off lion. 

“What the hell did you do?” as soon as the door closes, he flung a thick spell book at Chan, hitting him dead on the head. The eerie feeling sent shivers down his spine all the way to the soles of his feet. 

“I didn’t do anything! That fucking brat called me a bloodhound.” Seungmin simmers down a bit. Oh no, that’s a very taboo word for Chan. It was the worst name you could ever call a vampire. Chan was hurt, he usually doesn’t mind it but being called like that made him feel like he was an animal, like he was the lowest. With a deep sigh, Seungmin drops the books he was about to fling to Chan (for the second and third time) onto the floor. “Alright, they were wrong. But you shouldn’t have scared them like that.” Chan furrows his eyebrows. His fangs slowly disappearing and his eyes turning back to their usual color. “I don’t care.” but he did, deep down he cared more than anyone else.

Seungmin smiles. Chan was always portrayed as that cold hearted person he never was. He was gentle, caring and supporting. He just comes out aloof because he doesn’t want any attention on him. He just wanted to show he cared, and doesn’t want anything back. “Okay, I’ll go get Kazuo. Maybe ask him to send the twins home for now. I’m guessing he wanted to talk to you?” Chan nods. Seungmin gives him a pat on his shoulder before going out of the shop. 

“You okay?” 

“I’m fine, Kazuo. He wants you to come in.” he looks behind Kazuo, eyeing the twins. “And I think it’s best for you two to leave out of this.” the twins couldn’t agree more. They gave him a nod and hurriedly went in the car. Seungmin smiles at the familiar driver. “Are you sure he’s safe now?” 

“Chan is always safe.”

“You’re kidding, right?” Seungmin gave him a shrug. He walks back in the shop, calling out to Kazuo. “Ah, shit.” he clearly had no choice but to follow Seungmin. “Stay here.” he ordered the twins on the back seat. He asked the driver to look after them before going back in the shop. The lights were back to normal and the heavy atmosphere dispersed quite a while now. He pokes his head on one of the shelves and saw Chan’s back behind the counter. “Kazuo, come here.” Seungmin calls to him. He slowly makes his way to their location. As he cautiously circles the counter, he saw Seungmin was sitting down. That’s why Chan’s back was turned against him.

He quietly sits down beside Seungmin, keeping a good distance from Chan. “Great! You traumatized him.” Seungmin threw his hands in the air and gave Chan a judging glare. “He was always terrified of me back in the days. He’ll be fine.” Kazuo glares at Chan too. The vampire really gave him multiple frights back then. Chuckling, Seungmin stops both of them. “Alright, kids. No more fighting. Kazuo, why don’t you tell us why you are here?”

Kazuo fixes up his hoodie and slumps onto the chair. “The twins are my half-brothers. Vaughn is the noisy one and Vincent is the calm one. They’re identical.” Seungmin snaps his fingers. The broken cups and, now cold, teapot disappeared. With a second snap, a fresh hot pot of tea and 2 cups appear on the table. Kazuo holds up his cup, the teapot floats in the air and fills up his cup. He looks at Chan. “The old man wants you to train them.” Chan snickers in disbelief. He pulls himself up the counter and crosses his arms. “The answer is no.” 

“I knew that. But he forced me and the twins to go here.” Seungmin’s head snaps. “You mean, your grandfather is here?” Kazuo nods. “And so he returns.” Chan murmurs, his eyes lost in the cluster of books on the floor. Kazuo glances at them both, clearing his throat, he leans on the table. “So, what’s your connection with Yang Jeongin?” he saw how Chan’s jaw clenched, having Seungmin around gave him a new source of courage. “Saw him hang out here and at your mansion all the time.” He turns to Seungmin, exaggerating his actions with his hands. Oh how that irked Chan. “Seungmin, you moved in with the wolves? That’s great. My old man wondered where the mischievous bakeneko and freckled fox went. Turns out you also welcomed him into your ‘family’.” 

The topic went from fun to heavy in just a second. “Can I get a piece of that family love too? I’m also a supernatural being. You won’t grow cold with me in the house. I swear I’ll behave.” Seungmin was sure Kazuo did not have a clue about the wolves nor Felix and Minho. Plus, he never recalled telling him about moving in with Chan. “Your connections are fucking insane.” Seungmin brushed it off as a joke, but he knew Kazuo really had them investigated. And Chan sensed it a while back. “Yeah, I have my ways.” Kazuo smugly exclaimed. 

“So, who is he?” he smirks at Chan, irking a few nerves. “He’s a good friend.” Chan answers discreetly. Kazuo makes an impressed expression, mocking the vampire. “Okay. When did you meet him?” 

“That’s none of your business.” 

“I guess so.” Kazuo nods his head multiple times as the room stayed silent. “Is he moving in with you guys too, or?” this time, Chan was pissed. His eyes flashed red for a few seconds. “Drop it, Sofia.” it was a warning. And Kazuo got the message clear and precise. 

The witch was impressed. He never thought Kazuo feared anyone else but his grandfather. And there he was, witnessing a trembling Sofia in front of Chan. That vampire is really something else. “Kazuo,” 

“Hm?” Seungmin almost breaks into a grin. The look on the man’s face was so desperate. Like he wanted to escape his current situation ASAP. “Do you know Ms. Yoo from the Music Department?” Kazuo looks at him weirdly but answers his question nonetheless. “Yeah. I’m surprised you didn’t know about her.”

Seungmin tilts his head. Know her? He does know her, she’s a Professor in his University. He sees her on campus. Kazuo opens his mouth in disbelief, he was shocked about Seungmin not knowing Ms. Yoo. “Seriously? You don’t know her?” 

“Well I do, I see her in school.” the witch retaliates. By now, Kazuo was scoffing. “She’s also Merlin’s Descendant.” 

-

Seungmin sees Kazuo off. His words still lingering in his head. Ms. Yoo was also Merlin’s attendant? How is that even possible. He can spot a fellow descendant just by their stature. But Ms. Yoo? He didn’t even thought she was related to supernatural beings. “Hey, Kazuo. Why did ask about Jeongin? Where you just teasing Chan?” he was answered by a shrug. Seungmin watched as the car disappeared around the corner. He stood there with his mushy thoughts. 

“Ms. Yoo also. How did he know about her. I had no clue at all.”

As the winter breeze swept away the leaves on the pavement. Seungmin decided to go back in the shop. He searched for Chan, poking his head around the counter and walking around the shelves and items. “Ah, he’s in his room.” Flipping the open sign to closed, Seungmin pulled down the blinds on the windows before ascending to Chan’s room upstairs. 

Chan mutters a low ‘Come in’ as he heard a soft knock on his door. “Hey.” Seungmin sits on the worn down sofa in Chan’s room. It was the only set of furniture in there besides the bed and a small wardrobe. “You okay?” the bed squeaks as Chan plops down on it. He leans forward and gathers both his hands. “I need to investigate too.” 

“Chan, you know you can’t.” Seungmin sighs. “Kazuo is a Sofia. And you know those lot aren’t to be messed with.” of course he knew that. He lived with that family for decades. He knew how powerful they are. Out of frustration, Chan runs a hand through his hair, tugging on his curly locks. “I know that. But, Seungmin,” he stands up and sits down beside the witch. “They know about Jeongin.” Seungmin feared that too. As soon as the boy’s name rolled off Kazuo’s tongue, he knew something was up. They just don’t know Jeongin as a random university student who likes to hang out with them. They know more than that. Maybe even more than them. 

Seungmin puts a hand on Chan’s lap, he squeezes reassuring him that it will be okay. “I know. This is bad. But, Chan..” they lock eyes. “Once you mess with them. You mess with all of them.” the vampire bites his lower lip. “You alone can’t handle the 11 families.” 

The strength that gave him the courage to confront the Sofia’s vanished into thin air. The 11 families. Those people are horrible, selfish and hungry for power. He hated them. He lived long enough to see how those people reigned over others. How they killed into superiority. “Look. I know you’re strong. We all know that. But the 11 families outnumber you. A million to one. Don’t make haste decisions.” 

Chan stands up and gets ready to leave. He slips on his leather jacket and picks up the helmet on his bed. But before he could close the door behind him, he stopped and listened to what Seungmin had to say. 

“Don’t pick a fight with the Sofia’s. Or else this country will burn into cinders.”


End file.
